'ADUO is bull****' - this is how controversial new F1 rule should work

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F1 2026

'ADUO is bull****' - this is how controversial new F1 rule should work

ADUO is designed to give struggling power unit manufacturers a chance

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 19 June 2026 09:55

Former F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer has blasted the new FIA additional development and upgrade opportunities (ADUO) scheme with an expletive rant.

ADUO was brought in by F1's governing body the FIA at the start of the year, designed to give struggling power unit manufacturers a helping hand amid the new power unit regulations.

Underperforming manufacturers are given extra time to bring upgrades to their power units in the hope that the field converges, with the ruling revealing earlier this month that Red Bull have the best performing power unit.

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That means that the likes of Honda, Ferrari, and Audi will get two homologations, while controversially, Mercedes will also get one homologation.

ADUO is calculated on a sliding scale depending on how far a manufacturer are from the dominant power unit, and there are two more windows coming in 2026, after races 12 and 18.

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Engine freezes the real evil in F1?

Szafnauer is strictly against the new ADUO rules, but feels that it is necessary given the fact that F1 has a cost cap involved when it comes to power unit production in F1.

While in previous years power unit manufacturers have been able to put a plethora of resources into their production in the hope of becoming the dominant power unit on the F1 grid, the engine cost cap brought in for the 2023 season means that this is no longer the case.

"I read that ADUO stuff and, for me, ADUO is bull****," Szafnauer told the High Performance podcast. "However, it's necessary when you have engine freezes.

"In the past, we never had any engine freezes, the first engine freeze was when Flavio convinced Max Mosley that it was a good idea to freeze the engine to save money. But what he was really doing, was freezing in the fact that Renault had the best engine at the time.

"I don't know if Max fell for it, knew it, wanted to give Flavio an advantage or he really thought 'yeah let's save money'.

"But once you do that, and you freeze in a strategic advantage or a disparity for the rest and you're not allowing them to catch up naturally, then this ADUO comes in.

"Now, I believe it's artificial and it kind of belongs in bull**** corner, but for me the biggest thing that's in bull**** corner is the engine freeze, it's even bigger."

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F1 FIA 2026 regulations Otmar Szafnauer