FIA to review ADUO ruling after major Red Bull surprise

The FIA has agreed to review its ADUO findings, RacingNews365 can confirm. 

After last week's Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton revealed that Mercedes HPP, Ferrari, Audi, and Honda would all receive assistance from the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities programme after Red Bull Powertrains was adjudged to have the best engine in F1.

ADUO is only measured for performance metrics in terms of the internal combustion engine, and not the full power unit, causing the surprise of RBPT being found to be the best-performing engine, despite reliability concerns and the fact that Mercedes HPP units have won all six grands prix and three sprints thus far.

Mercedes HPP has been found to be within two per cent of RBPT, and so earns one ADUO upgrade for 2026 and another for 2027, in addition to extra budget cap money. Audi, Ferrari, and Honda are more than four per cent down, so are able to receive two tokens per year.

The FIA has not formally released its ADUO findings as of the time of writing, with the metrics used to gather the data not released to the public or teams, either. 

This was to prevent PUMs from effectively 'gaming' the system by appearing to be slower than they actually were and obtaining upgrade tokens they were not entitled to on pure performance.

RacingNews365 understands, from sources with direct knowledge of the matter, that F1's governing body is taking a second look at its findings to ensure it is as exact as possible with the results.

Despite Hamilton jumping the gun with the announcement after his second-place finish in Monaco, the official communication from the FIA has yet to be published.