Binotto urges FIA to rethink ADUO after Mercedes

Audi project head Mattia Binotto has called on the FIA to revisit Formula 1’s ADUO upgrade scheme after Mercedes qualified for extra power-unit development, arguing that a system based only on visible on-track V6 performance can hide an engine’s true potential.

Binotto told Motorsport.com that the current approach risks rewarding manufacturers that may already have strong hardware but do not need to run it at full capacity. Mercedes was among the manufacturers allowed additional upgrades under ADUO despite its V6 being described as one of the strongest in 2026, while the works team has won seven of the first nine grands prix.

“In my opinion, the limit has been that it has exclusively measured performance on the track,” Mattia Binotto, Audi’s Formula 1 project head, said. “A car with an overall advantage can afford not to fully exploit the potential of its power unit.” He added that “it’s possible, for example, that Mercedes had an engine with superior potential, but had no need to push it to the limit because it already had an advantage thanks to the car,” meaning “it could have also gained additional development margin.”

Binotto said he was not criticizing the FIA’s process itself. “On the results, I'm not questioning the work done by the FIA,” he said. “They have all the tools and data necessary to make their assessments, despite the limitations that any measurement system inevitably entails.” His objection is that the rule has moved away from its original purpose as a safeguard for a manufacturer that starts a new engine cycle well behind under rules with very limited scope for development.

That concern is sharpened by the way ADUO is structured. The system awards upgrade tokens for every 2% a V6 engine is judged to be down on power, but eligibility is decided only on V6 performance. Once a manufacturer qualifies, it can then overhaul virtually its entire power unit, including hybrid components. Binotto’s criticism is that this can allow a manufacturer to improve the overall package without necessarily adding V6-specific performance, while a benchmark supplier is left with no equivalent room to respond.

That is the situation Red Bull Ford Powertrains now faces. The FIA judged Red Bull’s V6 to be the benchmark, which bars it from extra improvements beyond the restricted homologation schedule. Red Bull challenged that outcome, but additional FIA reviews did not change the findings.

For Binotto, that is exactly why the regulation needs to be rewritten. He said ADUO was meant to help manufacturers “who were actually falling behind,” not create cases where the effective potential of a power unit is difficult to measure and where extra development can flow to suppliers that may already be ahead.