Lewis Hamilton lets slip F1 ADUO shock as best engine revealed
The ranking of best-performing engines in F1 2026 has been revealed, and there is a shock at the top.
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that Red Bull has been deemed as having the best engine in Formula 1.
After his second-place finish in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton let slip that Red Bull has been judged to have the best performing engine in F1 2026, and that Ferrari has been granted upgrade help, under the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) rule.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton said that teams had been informed over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend about the ADUO development.
"I think the news came out either yesterday or today that Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we're behind," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "So, we've now got these tokens to try and 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 out.”
It is understand that the FIA’s ADUO document states that Red Bull will not be permitted any upgrade opportunities as a result of having the best engine.
The shocking revelation means that Mercedes, who has been ruled as being more than two per cent behind the Ford-branded Red Bull power unit, will be given an engine upgrade this year.
This is particularly surprising given most in the F1 paddock believed Mercedes had by far the strongest power unit this year.
Ferrari, Audi and Honda have all been deemed to be over four per cent off Red Bull and get two upgrade homologations as a result.
Mercedes will also get an extra $3million cost cap allowance and an additional 70 hours of bench testing. It has not yet been confirmed how much allowance Ferrari, Audi and Honda will get.
It is expected that an official announcement from the FIA will follow, given it has 14 days to publish its findings after the Canadian Grand Prix.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis previously said of ADUO: "It's important to make clear that ADUO is not a kind of balance of performance mechanism.
"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."
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