Red Bull meet with FIA president over controversial F1 ruling

Red Bull

Red Bull meet with FIA president over controversial F1 ruling

Red Bull have met with the FIA president

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 14 June 2026 13:56

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A Red Bull boss met with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem earlier this week, days after a controversial F1 ruling.

Following the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend, it was revealed that Red Bull had the strongest power unit, and were therefore not entitled to additional development and upgrade opportunity (ADUO) time.

This has meant that the current dominant team in F1 - Mercedes - are going to get one upgrade opportunity in 2026.

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ADUO was brought in by the FIA at the start of the year amid the wholesale regulation changes, and it was designed to help struggling power unit manufacturers who may be falling behind.

However, it measures only the internal combustion engine performance when determining who gets more time to develop their power unit, leading to some controversy.

FIA president Ben Sulayem revealed via Instagram earlier this week that he had met up with Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in Paris for what he suggested was to "discuss Red Bull’s significant contribution to FIA championships, in particular its long-standing involvement in Formula 1 and global rallying."

However, it also understood that the pair discussed the recent ADUO ruling.

Who qualifies for ADUO in 2026?

ADUO is calculated on a sliding scale depending on how far a power unit manufacturer is behind the best power unit.

The first window occurred after race six (Monaco), but there are two further opportunities for the FIA to review things, after races 12 and 18 in the 2026 season.

Mercedes were determined to be the only engine manufacturer between two and 4 per cent behind Red Bull, giving them one upgrade chance this season and one next, while Ferrari, Audi and Honda get a maximum of two upgrades this year and two next for being at least four per cent back.

FIA ADUO Analysis
Engine	Teams	Upgrades
Red Bull Powertrains	Red Bull, Racing Bulls	Benchmark
Mercedes	McLaren, Williams, Mercedes, Alpine	One Upgrade
Ferrari	Haas, Cadillac, Ferrari	Two Upgrades
Audi	Audi	Two Upgrades
Honda	Aston Martin	Two Upgrades