Anthony Davidson warns FIA to avoid ‘dangerous’ ADUO ‘games’ that teams may try to catch Mercedes

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Anthony Davidson has sent a clear warning to the FIA over the ‘dangerous’ ADUO ‘games’ teams could play to catch Mercedes. 

The ADUO, which stands for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, is part of the brand-new regulations brought in by the FIA ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

It has been designed to give teams that are two per cent behind the manufacturer with the best-performing engine development opportunities.

So far this season, it has been well documented that Mercedes have dominated, with George Russell winning in Australia before Kimi Antonelli secured back-to-back victories in China and Japan.

With Ferrari being Mercedes’ current closest challengers, they could be handed ADUO to close the gap.

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Anthony Davidson warns FIA over ‘dangerous’ ADUO ‘games’

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, former Minardi driver Davidson warned that the FIA could go down a ‘dangerous path’ if they fail to prevent ADUO ‘games’ being played by other teams. 

Davidson stated that teams could potentially start ‘sandbagging’ in order to get ADUO allowance.

He explained: “I think what we don’t want this to turn into is a balance of performance. I don’t think it has a place in Formula 1, I think it should be about who are the best engineers, who can use their money the most wisely in that situation.

“That, in effect, is the cost cap, which is F1’s balance of performance. Everybody has the same pot to play with, may the engineering team win.

“So, as it stands at the moment, it seems Mercedes’ power units have done the best job, but it’s a complex one this year because you have got the whole electric motor side of things and the electrical side with the battery integration.

“So is it the ICE or is it just your whole integration of the electrical side, which is pretty much half of your horsepower, giving you that advantage.”

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Davidson continued: “You could end up going down a dangerous path here, where teams are jumping up saying ‘We need a bit of performance gain here’, they might be sandbagging like you say to get that performance gain.

“This has to be handled extremely carefully; otherwise, you do get into that situation as we see in many other categories around the world where they do have a balance of performance and games are played.”

READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli sends warning to Mercedes after Ferrari receive ADUO grant for 2026 engine

Toto Wolff says only one team should get ADUO

When quizzed on the ADUO situation, Mercedes team boss Wolff claimed that only one manufacturer should be getting the allowance to develop their engines.

As reported by Sky Sports, Wolff said: “The teams will have their performance pictures and, as it seems for me, there’s one engine manufacturer that has a problem and we need to help. And then all the others are pretty much in the same ballpark.

“So, I would be very surprised, actually, and disappointed if ADUO decisions that were done would come up with any interferences into the competitive pecking order as it stands at the moment.”