Enrico Gualtieri, Ferrari Power Unit Technical Director, spoke about how ADUO could help teams, also in light of the FIA’s decision regarding the Mercedes engine.
In the hours leading up to the highly anticipated presentation of the Ferrari SF-26, the FIA met with the teams to discuss the issue surrounding the Mercedes engine. In particular, the other engine manufacturers were strongly pushing for the solution adopted by the Silver Arrows on the compression ratio to be labelled as illegal. According to the now well-known rumours, the Brackley-based team appears to be able to modify the compression ratio depending on temperature. A solution that would allow Mercedes to gain several tenths of a second per lap over its rivals, and one that has inevitably sparked considerable controversy.
For now, the FIA has not taken a decision on the matter, even though the issue remains very much at the centre of the debate and is shaping up to be one of the key topics at the start of the season.
Enrico Gualtieri explains the importance of ADUO
In this context, the other engine manufacturers could therefore be forced to find a solution to try to close what would otherwise be a significant performance gap. One of the available options is linked to the newly introduced ADUO. The acronym, which stands for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, refers to a novelty introduced by the FIA with the arrival of the new regulations. In practical terms, every five or six races the average performance of each power unit manufacturer will be measured. Those falling below a certain threshold will be granted benefits to help them return to the appropriate level of performance. These benefits may include additional development budget, extra hours on the test bench, or even a new engine homologation.
The clear objective is to prevent a situation in which, given the many innovations introduced in 2026, one or more teams could be forced to deal with a gap that is simply too large to recover.
During the press conference reserved for selected media, Enrico Gualtieri, Ferrari’s Power Unit Technical Director, addressed this very concept. “I think that obviously it is a new process for everyone. It is a new process for the FIA, it is a new process for the power unit manufacturers. I believe it is quite well defined within the regulations. Obviously it will take some time to get used to the results. But I think it is sufficiently solid to move towards what we believe can be the final objective of this mechanism. At the moment, therefore, we are certainly comfortable with the process. Despite that, we obviously remain in contact with the FIA in case there are further requests, but for now it works for us,” the Italian engineer stated.
Clearly, the hope among both Tifosi and engineers is that the Ferrari from Maranello will not need to rely on ADUO and that it can instead become the benchmark for the entire grid.
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