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Red Bull’s dispute with the FIA over the 2026 engine rankings shows no signs of being resolved, according to journalist Julianne Cerasoli.
After the Miami GP in May, the FIA reviewed the performance of the five engines in F1 and found that Red Bull were the benchmark. This came as a major surprise, and not just because this is their first power unit.
Mercedes won the first six races of the season and have taken eight out of 10 victories overall. Toto Wolff even admitted his team have the best engine after the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.
What are your thoughts on Mercedes being granted an engine upgrade through ADUO despite their 2026 dominance?
ADUO dispute between Red Bull and the FIA is ‘very tense’
There’s a theory that Mercedes have been gaming the system, possibly along with Ferrari, to gain the benefits associated with ADUO. The championship leaders are allowed to upgrade their engine this year (and once next season), while Red Bull are frozen out.
This theory is difficult to prove, of course, and the consistent message has been that Red Bull’s appeal is unlikely to succeed given that the data appears objective. Still, Laurent Mekies’ team are refusing to back down.
Cerasoli says the ‘very tense’ dispute could yet end in the FIA’s International Court of Appeal.
“When Red Bull are questioning the numbers, they [the FIA] cannot just show everybody else’s numbers,” she said on Nailing the Apex. “They have to say, ‘Red Bull, you have to trust us.’
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“They say, ‘We don’t trust you, this is not possible.’ This is the big fight. I don’t know how they’re going to find a solution for this.”
She later added: “Things are very tense in the background. They could go to court, they could. What are you going to do if you cannot find a solution?
“But I always believe in politics in Formula 1. Politics always wins in Formula 1.”
A year after succeeding Christian Horner, this has the feel of a key battle for Mekies, who used to work for the FIA. His predecessor was regarded as one of the sport’s canniest political operators.
The FIA will measure engine performance again after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break. But for Red Bull to receive upgrades, there would have to be a significant swing.
They were previously ranked ahead of Mercedes but they will only have access to ADUO if they are at least two percent behind the best team.
The rankings are based on the internal combustion engines, which only account for around half of the car’s overall output, but the resulting upgrades can be used on any power unit component.
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