F1 teams warned over 'dangerous path': 'They might be sandbagging'

Anthony Davidson believes F1 could be headed down a "dangerous path" with teams attempting to "game" the FIA's ADUO system.

The Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities mechanism allows power unit manufacturers to bring performance-boosting upgrades to their new power units if they are deemed to be far enough behind the benchmark unit.

Currently, this is Mercedes HPP, whose engines have won each of the three grands prix thus far, the China Sprint, and taken front-row lockouts in all four qualifying sessions. 

As such, when the ADUO is calculated after Miami, those manufacturers found to be within 2% of Mercedes HPP will be allowed one additional upgrade in 2026 and 2027, whilst those found to be 4% down will be allowed two per year across this season and next.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was keen to point out that the system should not be used as a "leapfrog" to allow struggling PU manufacturers to overtake rivals who have done a better job in designing the new engine, with former F1 driver and World Endurance Champion Davidson believing that some teams could opt to hide their true pace in order to gain access to the upgrade opportunities.

"What we really don't want this to turn into is balance of performance," Davidson explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. 

"I don't think it really has a place in Formula 1, and it should be about who are the best engineers, who can use their money the most wisely and, in effect, the cost cap is F1 balance of performance.

"Everybody has the same pot to play with, and may the best engineering team win, so as it stands at the moment, it seems Mercedes power units have done the best job, but it is a complex one this year.

"You've got the whole electric motor side of things and the electrical integration, so is it the ICE or is it the whole integration of the electrical side, pretty much half of your horsepower, giving you that advantage.

"So you could end up going down a dangerous path here, with teams jumping up saying: 'We need a bit of a performance gain here', and they might be sandbagging to get that performance gain.

"It has to be handled extremely carefully; otherwise, you do get into a situation that we see in many other categories around the world where they do have a balance of performance and games are played."