Max Verstappen hit by FIA bombshell which leaves Red Bull exposed

Max Verstappen's nightmare F1 season has just been made even worse after an FIA ruling that has gone against his Red Bull team.

Verstappen narrowly missed out on a fifth consecutive F1 world championship in 2025, but his chances of battling for the 2026 crown already look over due to his Red Bull car being well off the pace.

The RB22 has proven slow as a well as unreliable for the Dutchman, with his only podium this season coming at the Canadian Grand Prix, leaving him languishing in seventh and 113 points behind Antonelli. Last time out in Monaco, Verstappen lined up on the front row alongside Antonelli hoping to battle for victory.

Instead his Red Bull bogged down on the line, forcing him to pit and retire the car before the end of the first lap.

Worse news was to follow in the Monte Carlo weekend though for Verstappen when it was revealed that Red Bull had been deemed by F1's governing body the FIA to have the most powerful engine on the grid.

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More Red Bull bad news

While this sounds good on paper, it means that the Red Bull Power Trains in collaboration with Ford have been deemed as the benchmark engine under Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) rules. (You can read more here if you are not up to scratch with what ADUO is and does)

This means that they will not be given extra time to develop their engine compared to their rivals under the ADUO system. This has caused a shock in the paddock including Red Bull, with many believing that Mercedes were the benchmark - which makes sense considering they have won all six races this season.

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies had even previously said in relation to engine power: "What we see is certainly Mercedes, a long way ahead of most of us."

Instead, the championship leaders, along with other Mercedes powered cars, will be given one upgrade for their engine being over two per cent slower (one this season, one in 2027), while the rest of the field excluding Red Bull and Racing Bulls will get two upgrade tokens (two this season, two in 2027). Ferrari and the rest have double the tokens for being four per cent slower.

What next for Red Bull and Verstappen?

This has Red Bull in a serious predicament. They can no longer improve their engine and must focus on trying to improve their car in other areas, while all their rivals have extra room to make sure their power unit has a bit more punch.

For a team already struggling in the world championship, it's catastrophic - especially as Red Bull could remain the considered technical benchmark for a while if Mercedes don't bring their development findings to the track straight away.

The biggest impact though could be on Max Verstappen himself. With Red Bull locked into a poor car with poor development opportunities, will he be looking to escape to a more competitive team for next year and beyond? He of course has an exit clause in his contract related to performance.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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