Laurent Mekis: Games are being played around the ADUO program.

      Red Bull Racing disagrees with the assumptions that their power unit DM01 is one of the most efficient in Formula 1 in 2026, and Laurent Mekies believes that the FIA will face very complex tasks in the process of assessing the performance of engines from different manufacturers.

      It is expected that next month, likely between the Canadian Grand Prix and Monaco, the federation will announce the results of this assessment following the first control period within the ADUO program (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities). Manufacturers whose power units lag behind the leaders by more than 2% should receive additional opportunities for upgrades, and those with a deficit of over 4% will receive even more significant concessions.

      This program is built on a "staged" principle and takes into account the performance differences of the power units. Its implementation could lead to adjustments in the balance of power; however, championship participants have questions for the FIA regarding the assessment methodology and the reliability of the results. In particular, there are suspicions that certain teams are hiding the true capabilities of their engines.

      At the same time, Toto Wolff, head of the Mercedes team, which is confidently leading the championship, claims that only Honda may fall under the ADUO program, while the products of other manufacturers are roughly equal in characteristics.

      The head of Red Bull Racing disagrees with this.

      "There are certain games going on around this classification," he said, as quoted by The Race. "We have been hearing this since the preseason tests in Bahrain and are trying not to participate in it. We acknowledge that the FIA has a complex task ahead and simply state what we see.

      What we see is that Mercedes are the undisputed leaders and are far ahead of most teams. We also agree that Honda is particularly lagging behind. The others, namely Ferrari and Audi, are roughly at our level. It is very difficult to accurately determine the efficiency of the internal combustion engines of different teams. I believe that the race results give a more or less correct picture of the overall standings.

      We assess our deficit to Mercedes at three-tenths. It is very difficult to determine this difference from the outside. I believe we mainly associate it with the difference in the efficiency of internal combustion engines – this is what affects lap times. However, objectively assessing this is difficult, as in engines from different manufacturers, the turbine may be larger or smaller, and there are also differences in exhaust system configuration, leading to different levels of back pressure. Overall, evaluating all this is far from the most pleasant job."

      At the same time, Mekies doubts that the engine builders at Red Bull Racing will be able to quickly present any significant innovations even considering the ADUO program:

      "In theory, this will give you the right to implement innovations as soon as the FIA verdict is known, but are we ready for this? Probably not, as we still have to adhere to the rule that we must use four engines over the season...

      Realistically speaking, I don't think you will see any innovations in the first part of the season; at least we won't have any. But in the second part of the championship, we need to try to present some updates, as much as possible, with an eye on 2027.

      Undoubtedly, we have exceeded our own expectations, as we were preparing for the fact that we would lag much more at the beginning of the season... We have problems too, as we need to make up those few tenths, and the shortcomings of the car as a whole need to be addressed. We know how to do this and will do it, but not in Miami."