As Speedcafe reports, the final review of internal combustion engine performance across seven rounds—stretching from the Dutch Grand Prix to the United States Grand Prix—has concluded with zero additional concessions handed out to any manufacturer.
That leaves Red Bull-Ford as the sole engine supplier completely shut out from extra development opportunities under the system. Meanwhile, Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Audi hang onto the allocations they managed to secure earlier in the year. Although the governing body noted that performance gaps had shifted since the previous assessment, those movements were simply not enough to trigger changes to the existing allowances.
“For the third period, the relative performance gaps to the leading ICE evolved, but these changes did not result in any additional homologations being granted to the power unit manufacturers,” the FIA stated.
Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, known as ADUO, was brought in alongside Formula 1’s new power unit rules in 2026 to give struggling manufacturers a lifeline to close the gap. Crucially, the rankings look exclusively at the internal combustion engine rather than the whole hybrid power unit. That specific detail has raised eyebrows, especially since Mercedes has dominated the championship under the new regulations while the FIA pinned down Red Bull-Ford as the leading ICE manufacturer.
Back at the first assessment after the Canadian Grand Prix, Mercedes sat between two and four percent behind the leading engine, earning them one extra engine homologation for 2026 and another for 2027. Audi, Ferrari and Honda landed in a deeper tier—at least four percent off the pace—which handed them a pair of extra homologations this year and another pair for 2027, alongside boosts to their cost caps and dynamometer testing allowances. Red Bull-Ford missed out entirely, a status that stayed locked in after the second review following the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Now, the final assessment freezes the 2027 allocations in place: Mercedes keeps its single extra homologation, Audi, Ferrari and Honda keep their two apiece, and Red Bull-Ford stays firmly outside the catch-up provisions. FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis stood by the process amid ongoing debates about whether it paints an accurate picture of the field.
“The FIA has undertaken extensive analysis as part of the review of ADUO this year. Based on the quality of the data and the robustness of the assessment process, we are confident in our findings and the conclusions reached,” Tombazis said. Even so, he admitted that the first year of ADUO exposed areas to refine, with talks underway between the governing body, manufacturers, and teams about potential tweaks for 2027. Possible revisions on the table include factoring in turbocharger size and operating temperatures, or measuring total power unit output instead of isolating the combustion engine. Looking ahead, the very first ADUO review of 2027 will span six races, kicking off at the Bahrain Grand Prix and wrapping up at the Miami Grand Prix.
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