FIA, the ADUO arrives
Now we officially know when the FIA indications on who will be able to access and who will not to the benefits of the ADUO system will arrive. In fact, there will still be one race on the calendar, the Canadian GP, before the Federation officially announces which manufacturers are authorized to return to work on the thermal engine. If, initially, the first communication was expected after the sixth race (and then after the 12th and the 18th of the 24 scheduled), the postponement to an indefinite date of the rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia has caused some uncertainty about the timing of the evaluation of struggling engine manufacturers. Now, an official amendment to the technical regulations, approved by the FIA World Council, clears up any doubts.
Read more A KGM Tivoli against violence towards women
The answer lies in the amendment to article 4.2 of appendix C5 to the technical regulations, which specifically addresses the “ADUO Periods”: after the latest changes, it is now officially provided that the first period runs from round 1 to 5 of the season and also that further evaluations on thermal engines with power deficits are possible after race 11 (and not 12) and again after 18 (and in this case nothing changes compared to the original version of the regulation). Therefore, the first ADUO evaluation will be communicated after the Canadian GP on May 24, the second after the Hungarian GP on July 26 (and not the Dutch GP on August 23, as originally planned), the third after the Mexican GP on November 1.
Click here to add Formula Passion as a preferred source on Google Discover: you will find our content more easily!
Read more GP France 2026, the report of FP1, the start of Practice at 15:00
The “save-Honda” rule
Moreover, this is not the only change made to the rules governing ADUO. Probably to help Honda, which is the power unit manufacturer in the most difficulty, an additional benefit threshold has also been added, reserved for those who have more than 10% power deficit compared to the class leaders. Those who fall into this new threshold will therefore be able to have 230 extra hours to work on the dynamometer. The new last ADUO threshold also provides advantages in terms of financial regulations, with 11 million dollars of extra budget, while 8 million are granted to those who are between 8% and 10% less power compared to the reference power unit.
