Fernando Alonso at the Miami Grand Prix / Aston Martin F1
The FIA World Motor Sport Council, in an extraordinary meeting, has approved a series of changes to the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) regulations, which appear tailored to assist Aston Martin and Honda. The aim is to bring Fernando Alonso’s team closer to the rest of the grid following a turbulent start to the 2026 season.
Among the measures, a new category of assistance has been created for manufacturers that are 10% or more behind the reference engine. The first ADUO review will take place after the fifth race of the season, which means after the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix on May 24.
Mercedes, which currently holds an advantage in the first year of the new regulations and leads both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships after four races, wanted the review to wait until the sixth race in Monaco. In contrast, the teams further behind pushed for an earlier review after Miami. The FIA ultimately chose a middle ground: after Canada.
Additionally, the second upgrade window has been moved forward by one race to round 11, while the third and final window remains after the 18th grand prix of the calendar.
In this ADUO system, introduced by the FIA to balance performance, only the internal combustion engine’s performance is evaluated, not the entire power unit. Mercedes currently serves as the performance benchmark, with just over 550 horsepower. According to multiple sources, Honda’s internal combustion engine lags by 60 to 70 horsepower, placing them clearly more than 10% behind.
The FIA has created five categories for the most lagging engine manufacturers, ranging from 2% to 10% behind. In Honda’s case, this entitles them to a total of 230 extra hours on the test bench. Manufacturers that started at a disadvantage will also receive an additional budget of up to $11 million for the next two years, although they cannot use it in 2026, allowing them to continue developing their engine and close the gap to the leaders.
Furthermore, the FIA is introducing an extra $8 million for those engine manufacturers that, at the start of the new regulations in 2026, find themselves more than 10% behind the reference engine. This funding can be used over the following two seasons.
Toto Wolff had already made it clear months ago that the ADUO was designed to help a severely lagging manufacturer, not to allow Ferrari or Red Bull to cut the gap to Mercedes. As a result, the Mercedes team
