Lewis Hamilton has exposed F1’s silliest rule and teams want it scrapped

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Lewis Hamilton let slip an upcoming FIA announcement in his post-race interview at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

The FIA have been examining the performance of the five F1 engines to determine who will have access to Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO), the catch-up mechanism in the regulations.

Measurements were taken across the first five races (Australia to Canada), and it was decided that Red Bull were the benchmark, followed by Mercedes.

What are your thoughts on Mercedes being granted an engine upgrade through ADUO despite their 2026 dominance?

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Lewis Hamilton has leaked the FIA’s engine ruling, and it defies logic

“Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we are behind,” Ferrari driver Hamilton told Sky Sports.

“We’ve got now these tokens to try to develop and close the gap. But that’s like an eight-to-10-month project, so it’s not something we can just do next week. We’ll be pushing as hard as we can to see how we can close it up.”

Hamilton effectively jumped the gun, with the FIA not due to publicly reveal the engine tiers until Monday. It’s unclear if all of the other teams were aware.

Inevitably, this has prompted a backlash. Mercedes have taken every pole position and Grand Prix win so far this season, so it seems illogical that they have access to a ‘catch-up’ scheme.

By contrast, Red Bull, supposedly the class of the field, have scored just two podiums in the opening six Grands Prix. Mercedes have amassed more than three times the number of points (244 vs 72).

The problem is that the measurements are only based on the internal combustion engine, rather than the battery. Newcomers RBPT may well have built the best ICE, but that only accounts for around half of the car’s overall power output; Mercedes’ specialism lies on the electrical side.

On the face of it, this is a borderline ridiculous hole in the rulebook. According to The Race, there will ‘almost certainly’ be demands to scrap ADUO entirely on the back of the ruling.

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton admits Ferrari’s F1 car is ‘so basic’ compared to Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes

Failing that, teams want the criteria changed so that it’s more comprehensive.

ADUO was designed to level the playing field and prevent large, long-term performance disparities, but in its current form, there’s a very real chance that it will only increase Mercedes’ dominance.

The Silver Arrows will be able to introduce one power unit upgrade this year and one next, while Ferrari, Honda and Audi are eligible for two (four in total). Red Bull will still be subjected to the engine freeze, significantly restricting their ability to unlock more performance.