Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls aren’t challenging for any Formula 1 championships this year, but it’s not their power unit’s fault.
The FIA motorsports governing body has declared the Red Bull Ford Powertrains turbocharged V6 to be the class of the field through two review periods this year.
Given the all-new nature of this year’s power unit formula, which features a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric drive, the FIA has created the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) program, which gives power unit suppliers opportunities to improve their engines to catch up to the benchmark to keep things competitive.
“The FIA has undertaken thorough and exhaustive analysis as part of our ADUO review process. With the release of the findings of period 2, 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. 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,” Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Director of Single Seater said in a news release. “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”
The FIA has determined that Mercedes is 2%-4% off Red Bull while Audi, Ferrari and Honda are all more than 4% behind.
So far, Mercedes has been granted one upgrade opportunity to use this season and another next season, while the others get two each. The next review period will cover races 12-18.
“It’s important to make clear that ADUO is not a kind of balance of performance mechanism,” Tombazis explained. “A team or manufacturer will not suddenly get greater fuel flow rate or more or less ballast. It is, in fact, a Cost Cap relief mechanism, where a PU manufacturer meeting ADUO criteria during a review period is given an opportunity to develop its engine through a downward adjustment. That’s not to underestimate it but a manufacturer will still need to make the best engine in order to win. It’s not a magic bullet, or like the FIA is handing out brownie points to somebody who’s behind, it simply provides them with leeway to develop their power unit within the framework laid out by the Technical Regulations.”
Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls are currently fourth and fifth in the manufacturer’s standings, while Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen is the highest-ranked driver in sixth.
The new GM Performance Power Units operation is slated to start supplying the Cadillac Formula 1 Team with its own power units as early as 2029, but the team is currently a Ferrari customer.
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