Red Bull provides update on F1 engine ranking talks with FIA

Red Bull has further talks planned with the FIA after the team's power unit was ranked as the best in Formula 1

08 Jul 2026

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has revealed that talks are continuing with the FIA after the team's power unit with ranked as the best in Formula 1, denying any opportunity to enact any upgrades.

As part of the ADUO process that decides how many power unit upgrade tokens each manufacturer can have, the FIA surprised onlookers with its verdict that it was Red Bull and not pace-setters Mercedes that had the best example in the championship.

Red Bull has contested this ruling, with Mekies stating previously, "We do not see one single data sample where we estimate ourselves higher than competition, let alone being consistently above them."

The FIA is reviewing its findings after receiving a request from Red Bull, with the team fearing 'large implications' should the ruling not be reversed.

Providing an update on the review process, Mekies told media, including Crash.net, “We are exchanging data with the FIA. So it's progressing in the way that we have had a chance to, to exchange a bit more [data] compared to last time, in terms of methodologies and, and potential discrepancies.

"It's fair to say that we'll have a, we'll have a catch-up next week outside of the race weekend to sit down and have a chance to look at the same set of data together.”

Red Bull endured a difficult weekend at Silverstone, despite Max Verstappen looking strong for a podium finish before a late-race rear wing problem saw him crash out.

With back-to-back races in Belgium and Hungary to bring the championship to the summer break, Mekies was aware of the need to find gains, although he conceded that the power-starved Spa-Francorchamps layout could prove challenging.

Verstappen is understood to have an exit clause in his contract

"It's still the first year with our PU, the team is going to get around this sort of energy-starved track," he said. "There may be hardware limitations, but I equally know that the team is extraordinary at turning [things around] fast.

"I hope we will be in a slightly better shape in Spa, but you are right in saying that, from a characteristic perspective, it should be quite similar to here."