Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Denied Any Engine Upgrade for the Rest of 2026 as FIA Confirms Mercedes Keep Their Development Edge

• The FIA has confirmed Red Bull will get no extra engine development for the rest of 2026, while Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda were already handed upgrade opportunities earlier in the year.
• Red Bull’s power unit was rated the strongest going into the season under the FIA’s new ADUO system, an odd finding given the team has managed only a single podium after Mercedes won the opening six races.
• Mercedes have not yet used the upgrade they were awarded in June, with their next major package not expected until the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in October.

The FIA has confirmed that Mercedes will keep their opportunity to upgrade their 2026 engine, over objections from rival teams, while Red Bull have been told they will get no extra development before the season ends. The decision closes out the second review period of the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities system, a mechanism introduced this year to let manufacturers behind the pace catch up to the strongest power unit on the grid.

Under ADUO, the FIA periodically ranks the five power unit manufacturers and grants extra homologation opportunities, plus the cost cap and dyno testing room that comes with them, to anyone judged to be meaningfully behind the benchmark engine. Red Bull’s own power unit, built in partnership with Ford for its first season as a manufacturer, was ranked at the top after the first review period. That ranking leaked in June, and it has now been reconfirmed alongside the results of a second review.

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What the FIA Actually Confirmed

The FIA never revealed the first period’s findings to the media directly. Teams and drivers confirmed the outcome publicly instead, and a document detailing the results was leaked. The governing body stayed quiet on the record while a Red Bull-requested review was carried out, and has now announced the outcome of both completed periods together, with the second concluding at the Hungarian Grand Prix immediately before the summer break.

On the first period, covering the opening five rounds, the FIA’s statement read: “Mercedes were determined to be in the two to four per cent window, and will thus be allowed one additional homologation in 2026 and an additional one in 2027, together with corresponding cost cap and dyno testing increases.” Audi, Ferrari and Honda were judged to have fallen further behind Red Bull’s benchmark engine and were handed two additional homologations apiece, for both 2026 and 2027, on the same terms.

Ferrari, Audi and Honda are each thought to have introduced one of their two allotted upgrades already. Mercedes have been free to use theirs from the moment the results were first communicated in June, but have not brought it to the car yet. On the second period, the FIA’s statement was blunt: “For the second period, no additional homologations were granted to any of the Power Unit Manufacturers.” Had a rival’s in-season upgrades been judged to have pushed their performance beyond Red Bull’s, that team could have earned its own development opportunity. None did, which means Red Bull are seen to be performing at least within two per cent of the best engine on the grid, and could still rank as the strongest when the FIA reviews the field again.

The Irony Red Bull Can’t Escape

The result leaves Red Bull with an awkward problem. Mercedes’ works team won the first six grands prix of the season and still qualified for engine development help, while Red Bull, who had taken just a single podium finish in that same stretch, are the team the FIA says nobody else is allowed to catch up to on power unit terms. Verstappen said in June that Red Bull were shocked by the initial finding, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff added his own pointed comment in July, saying his team have “the most powerful power unit” on the grid regardless of what the FIA’s numbers show.

Verstappen now sits 130 points back in sixth in the drivers’ championship, a gap that has only grown in the months after that first ranking was made public. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads team-mate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 59 points at the top of the standings, with Mercedes 87 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. McLaren, who use a Mercedes engine, sit third, with Lando Norris having won the last two races to close the gap on the leaders.

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The FIA Stands By Its Numbers

FIA director of single seater Nikolas Tombazis defended the process behind the rankings. “The FIA has undertaken thorough and exhaustive analysis as part of our ADUO review process,” he said. “With the release of the findings of period two, we are confident that, based on the quality of the data, its analysis is incredibly robust, giving us a high level of confidence in our findings.”

Tombazis acknowledged the FIA cannot show its full working. “We also have to respect the confidentiality and intellectual property of the teams and their Power Unit Manufacturers in disseminating any details from the findings,” he said, adding that the process could still change. “This is the first year of ADUO so naturally there are areas which we may evolve over time, in discussion with all the PU Manufacturers.”

What Happens From Here

The third ADUO review period began with last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and runs through to the Mexico City Grand Prix on November 1, giving Red Bull one more chance this year to shift the FIA’s view of its power unit. Until then, the team heads to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix on September 4-6 with no extra development room to call on. Mercedes, meanwhile, carry an unused upgrade allowance into a run of races that takes in Italy, Spain and Azerbaijan before their next major package is expected to land at the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, from October 2-4.

More F1 Reading

• Toto Wolff’s Mercedes Could Be Left ‘Hanging On’ for the Rest of 2026 After Front-Loading Their Development, Warns Bernie Collins
• Esteban Ocon’s Haas Future Left Hanging as Team Boss Ayao Komatsu Says They Are ‘Not in Any Rush’ Over 2027 Driver Plans
• Franco Colapinto Extends Alpine Contract
• Toto Wolff Admits Mercedes ‘Haven’t Got The Money’ to Match McLaren and Ferrari’s Upgrade Pace

Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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