Mercedes has both world titles. Red Bull has the engine benchmark. F1’s catch-up rules explain how both can be true—and why the champions already have an extra development opportunity for 2027.
Mercedes finished Brazil celebrating the constructors’ championship, completing its title double. Red Bull, meanwhile, remains the benchmark its engine department is allowed to chase.
That sounds backward until you look at what F1 is actually measuring.
The catch-up system doesn’t ask who won the championship. It asks how much performance a manufacturer’s combustion engine is missing.
Winning the championship isn’t the engine test
Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, known as ADUO, gives manufacturers extra development opportunities when their combustion engines fall sufficiently behind the strongest.
The distinction matters. A championship reflects the entire car, its drivers and how well the team operates. The combustion engine is only part of that package. Aerodynamics, tires and the electrical side of the power unit all influence the result.
In the first assessment of 2026, Red Bull Ford set the benchmark. Mercedes fell into the 2–4% deficit bracket, earning one additional approved upgrade for 2026 and another for 2027, alongside extra spending and engine test-bench allowances.
Ferrari, Audi and Honda were more than 4% behind, qualifying for two additional upgrades in each season.
Those percentages describe the first assessment. They are not newly published measurements of today’s gaps.
No new award. A real opportunity for next year.
The FIA’s November 10 announcement granted no additional upgrades after the final review. Mercedes’ existing 2027 allowance remains in place.
It wasn’t awarded for anything that happened in Brazil, and winning the titles didn’t cancel it.
That leaves an intriguing prospect: the championship-winning team has an additional opportunity to improve a component the FIA previously judged weaker than Red Bull’s. Permission doesn’t guarantee more speed, but Mercedes has room to address a measured shortfall.
The implications also extend beyond its factory team. Mercedes supplies McLaren, Williams and Alpine, making its engine development relevant across a substantial part of the grid.
The benchmark comes with a trade-off
Red Bull receives none of these additional catch-up allowances. Its rivals have opportunities to close the engine gap while it works within its own permitted development limits.
That is the tension heading into 2027. The strongest measured combustion engine didn’t deliver the championship-winning package—and the team that built that package still has scope to strengthen its engine.
