Why "mega difficult" ADUO upgrades haven't been a game changer in F1

The ADUO catch-up mechanism, whereby power unit manufacturers are afforded upgrade opportunities and budget cap headroom to improve power unit components that would otherwise remain frozen, has been a complicated and divisive topic.

Handing out opportunities based on a sliding scale of V6 engine performance has opened the door to gamesmanship and politics, especially since Red Bull Powertrains was deemed to have the best engine F1 over the likes of Mercedes, with Ferrari and the other manufacturers further behind.

But ADUO is no silver bullet either, and being allowed the opportunity to open up the homologation doesn't mean manufacturers are simply able to turn a middling engine into a rocketship mid-season. Engine development is a long and costly process, and even with the additional budget headroom changing engine designs within the scope of a season is a huge undertaking.

That's why, as Ferrari readies its second ADUO upgrade for its Italian Grand Prix home race, team principal Fred Vasseur is keen to manage expectations for Monza but also play down how much of a game changer ADUO can really be.

"What we also have to keep in mind is that ADUO is helping, but it's mega difficult to develop during a season," Vasseur told Autosport. "Even with the ADUO, even with the extra budget, because introducing some new spec of engine, it's mega costly. The cost of material is huge on the engine.

"If you change something, you have to change almost everything. It means that you go to race 10, you need to have a spare engine. And then you go to race 11. If you want to introduce ADUO, you need to introduce an engine plus spare. It means that each time that you want to do something, the cost is huge, and the capacity or the possibility to develop during the season event with ADUO is marginal."

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

Ferrari's view is backed up by what some of its competitors are doing. Both Audi and Honda, which have also received two upgrade opportunities, have decided to cash in only one of their two homologation tokens for 2026 and instead focus on having the most competitive power unit possible for the start of the 2027 campaign.

"We brought something to Barcelona straight away, which was some small adaption and that worked well," said Audi's racing director Allan McNish. "The bigger parts are for 2027, so we will not see anything big on the power unit until then. It’s more hardware than anything, and that’s not a quick thing to change.”

Allowing manufacturers to change their entire power unit solely based on V6 power remains a sore topic, albeit one the manufacturers themselves agreed upon, while the FIA was happy to take more factors into consideration.

The FIA published unchanged findings after its second measuring point following the Hungarian Grand Prix, with a disgruntled Red Bull continuing to lead the way and therefore being frozen out of power unit upgrades.

Vasseur said criticism of how the system works is not entirely without merit, but stressed it was voted on by the parties involved: "It's a good point, but everybody agreed on something like this two years ago. "Also, I think on the efficiency of the electric part you can make a small difference, but we are all very close. On the ICE side, it can be different.

"Honestly, it's a very difficult topic. I see the positive to put everybody in the same ballpark in terms of engine performance. What was good with the previous regulations also, is that after years we had the four or five PU manufacturers within tenths of a second."

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Ferrari has also had its reasons to be upset at the start of the season, when the FIA decided to lengthen the starting procedure to allow drivers to spool up their turbos longer, easing safety concerns over botched starts.

Ferrari had actually flagged this potential issue throughout 2025, but when the FIA decided not to make any rule changes, it consciously decided to move to a smaller turbocharger design, helping it achieve more consistent starts at the expense of overall power output. The start changes effectively punished Ferrari for making that trade-off.

Vasseur admitted he was "still a bit upset" at the start saga, but was keen to "turn the page" and had sympathy for the tough job the governing body is doing trying to keep up with the combined engineering might of 11 F1 teams.

"It's tough. We made a decision for the starting procedure that was in place before the season, and they changed the starting procedure, and this didn't help us at all," he said.

"But let's turn this page. The regulations in general are a challenge for the teams, but it's a mega challenge for the FIA when you start from scratch like this. Keep in mind that the aero regulations are different, the engine regulations different, battery different, sporting regulations different. The FIA's team is much smaller than the [technical] team of each team.

"It means that perhaps some things are not perfect, but I think overall the job is well done. And even on the start, I was a bit upset, and I'm still a bit upset. But I can also understand that if someone has an issue at the start, that the FIA doesn't want to be involved in this situation."