FIA can’t let engine upgrades interfere with F1 championship fight - Toto Wolff

Wolff said the intention of the FIA's engine catch-up system was for teams “to catch up but not to leapfrog” rivals Joe Portlock/Getty Images Share articleMercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff would be “very surprised” and “disappointed” if the FIA allows rivals to make in-season upgrades to their engines that interfere with the championship fight. Mercedes has won all three F1 races this season to open up a 45-point gap over Ferrari at the top of the world championship, while drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell sit first and second in the drivers’ standings. The team has enjoyed a clear performance advantage over its rivals in the early part of the season, but one way the other teams could cut the deficit comes via the FIA’s engine catch-up system called ‘Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities’ (ADUO). Speaking to reporters on Monday, Wolff said the intention of ADUO was always for teams “to catch up but not to leapfrog” its rivals, which can also make performance gains through developing their cars. “It needs to be very clear that whatever decisions are being made, whichever team is granted an ADUO, that any such decision may have a big impact on the performance picture and on the championship if not done with absolute precision and clarity and transparency,” Wolff said. “It needs to be clear that gamesmanship hasn’t got any place here. But it needs to be with the right spirit here that the FIA acts upon an ADUO.” F1’s manufacturers were required to freeze development on their engines one week before the start of the season, but ADUO gives those which are lagging in performance an extra upgrade opportunity. Any manufacturer that is deemed by the FIA to be more than 2 per cent behind the leading engine performance is permitted an extra upgrade this season, with three review periods scheduled through the year. In China last month, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said he thought ADUO “will be an opportunity for us to close the gap” to Mercedes, suggesting it would be eligible for an upgrade under the rules. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both scored podium finishes so far this season, although neither have been able to seriously challenge Mercedes for a race win. ADUO was written into the rules to prevent big performance deficits through the field, something that was risked with the introduction of all-new engines for 2026. Before this year, all manufacturers were largely equal for engine performance. The first review of the engine performances was scheduled after six races, but discussions are ongoing about when this will be scheduled after the rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia scheduled for this month were called off. Wolff said there was “one engine manufacturer that has a problem and we need to help” through ADUO, seemingly in reference to the struggling Aston Martin team, but “all the others are pretty much in the same ballpark.” He added: “So I would be very surprised actually to see, and disappointed, if ADUO decisions were done (that) would come up with any interferences into the competitive pecking order as it stands at the moment.” Wolff did express faith in the FIA to make the right call “to continue to see themselves as protecting the integrity of the sport. “Because you don’t want to allow an ADUO to a team that suddenly leapfrogs someone. The ADUO was always meant as a catch-up mechanism and not as a leapfrog mechanism.” F1 team principals will meet Monday with officials from the FIA and the F1 organization to discuss potential rule tweaks for the Miami Grand Prix relating to the electrical energy used by the engines. It is the third meeting in the past two weeks after concerns have been raised by some drivers and team figures over how the new engines for 2026 perform over a single lap in qualifying, as well as safety concerns that emerged after Ollie Bearman’s high-speed crash at Suzuka. Wolff said that talks had been constructive between all parties on potential tweaks — which are expected to focus on how the batteries recharge energy — but they wanted to “act with a scalpel and not with a baseball bat.” “I think we’re coming to good solutions that we’re going to ratify hopefully today in order to evolve,” Wolff said. “Because it’s only three races in, and in a way, we need to learn from the past where sometimes decisions were made in an erratic way and then we overshot and realised it wasn’t good. “Because we are custodians of this sport. And in that respect, I am carefully optimistic that we’re going to improve the racing whilst we align the aforementioned objectives whilst keeping the racing really good.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Luke Smith is a Senior Writer covering Formula 1 for The Athletic. Luke has spent 10 years reporting on Formula 1 for outlets including Autosport, The New York Times and NBC Sports, and is also a published author. He is a graduate of University College London. Follow Luke on Twitter @LukeSmithF1