Racing
© Jonathan Borba
The FIA has confirmed the first ADUO eligibility check for Formula 1’s 2026 power-unit manufacturers will take place after the Canadian Grand Prix, opening a recovery route for any supplier whose internal-combustion engine is at least 2% down on the benchmark.
That matters because ADUO is the mechanism built into the new engine rules to stop an early deficit becoming a season-long freeze. If a manufacturer falls far enough behind on the FIA’s ICE Performance Index, it can receive extra cost-cap headroom and limited homologation update rights to improve a power unit that would otherwise be locked down.
The FIA will judge that deficit using an index based on input-shaft torque, engine speed, MGU-K power and a weighting for power sensitivity to lap time. Any manufacturer whose ICE is at least 2% below the best-performing ICE qualifies.
The first review had originally been tied to the opening six races, but the FIA revised the window after calendar disruption linked to events in the Middle East. Period 1 now covers Australia, China, Japan, Miami and Canada, with the results to be published no later than two weeks after the Canadian Grand Prix. The second assessment runs from Monaco to Hungary, and the third from the Netherlands to Mexico City.
Once eligibility is confirmed, affected manufacturers can move quickly. Those between 2% and 4% behind are entitled to one extra update in the current season and one in the following year. If the deficit is at least 4%, that rises to two updates in the current season and two more in the next, with the first changes allowed as early as the following race after notification.
The financial relief scales with the size of the performance gap. A manufacturer 2% to 4% down can receive up to $3.0 million in extra allowance. That rises to $4.65 million for a 4% to 6% deficit, $6.35 million for 6% to 8%, and $8 million for 8% to 10%. Any supplier 10% or more behind can receive up to $11 million per ADUO period, plus, for 2026 only, the ability to anticipate up to $8 million from future periods.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis stressed that the system is not meant to rewrite the competitive order by regulation. “It’s important to make clear that ADUO is not a kind of balance of performance mechanism,” Tombazis said, describing it instead as “a Cost Cap relief mechanism.” He added that it is “not a magic bullet,” but gives a manufacturer extra leeway to develop its engine within the rules.
That makes the post-Canada review one of the first real pressure points of the 2026 engine era, because it will show whether any supplier has started the new rules cycle far enough off the pace to need FIA-backed development relief.