Since Red Bull is said to have the best V6 engine on the grid, the competition is allowed to catch up: Even industry leader Mercedes is getting additional development time
Does Mercedes have the best Formula 1 engine, and will it be held back in the near future by the ADUO equalization system? One might think so after the Silver Arrows’ strong start to the season, but the answer to that question surprised many in the paddock in Monaco. Because Mercedes, too, will be allowed to further develop its engine.
Instead, the FIA has determined that Red Bull Ford, of all teams, is said to have the best combustion engine on the grid. While this may flatter the project—since many didn’t believe Red Bull could develop the most competitive powertrain from scratch—it’s not good news for Max Verstappen from a racing perspective.
This means Red Bull is not allowed to develop its power unit, while the competition is permitted to improve theirs. Mercedes is allowed to make one upgrade to its engine, while Ferrari, Audi, and Honda are allowed two—so at least Ferrari could close the gap on Mercedes a little.
Red Bull with the best engine, but …
After the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA measured the performance of all V6 internal combustion engines to determine both the benchmark power unit and the gap to the competitors.
Engine manufacturers receive additional homologation tokens for every two percent power deficit of the V6—including extra test bench hours and more leeway under the budget cap—to work on their engines outside the usual regulatory time windows and restrictions.
Red Bull is unlikely to be happy about this decision. Although reports suggest they do indeed have the best V6 engine, for many in the paddock this is merely one component of a strong power unit. Factors such as battery performance or energy recovery are not taken into account in the ADUO assessment, even though they also play an important role.
Furthermore, Red Bull argues that its engine’s peak power is only achieved at certain RPM levels.
Hamilton Reveals Results in Advance
An official announcement was already expected yesterday, Monday, as the FIA is required by the regulations to publish its results 14 days after the Canadian Grand Prix. So far, however, that has not happened. The teams have, however, already been informed internally by the FIA.
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had already revealed the decision in Monaco: “I think the news came out either yesterday or today that Red Bull has the most powerful engine, Mercedes is in second place, and we’re behind them,” Hamilton told Sky. “So now we have these tokens to try to develop further and close the gap.”
“But that’s a project of about eight to ten months, so not something we can just implement next week. We’ll push as hard as we can to see how we can plug the gap.”
ADUO was a hotly debated topic, as it was originally designed to prevent a scenario like Honda’s in 2017, where a manufacturer fell dramatically behind the competition. But due to the sliding scale of upgrade options, the battle quickly became political.