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Chapter 1: What is the F1 engine catchup programme and why is it controversial?
Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy. So Tommy, we need to talk about this whole engine thing because it's quite shocking. It's quite surprising what has dripped out to the public, right? So essentially how we understand this is that... Well, the FIA, let's start from the beginning.
The FIA have this ADUO thing, which is basically... Go on, you know the exact... It's the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities. Okay, you definitely read that. I could see your eyes. So essentially, it is a catch-up program. It's not a balance of performance. It's to...
Try and help the manufacturers, the power unit developers that have struggled at the beginning of this regulation set to make sure there isn't a massive chasm when we go through the next months, the next years.
Chapter 2: How does the FIA's Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities work?
So the results haven't been announced to the public because they have fear of sounding bad, these brands.
Which is crazy because they need to work out badly what they're doing with this. Because if it's going to be such a pivotal moment in the Formula One season, they can't hide it. But they want to hide it because the manufacturers want to hide it.
They are to a degree, right? So what we know, let's get into what we know right now. So Red Bull powertrains have been deemed the best ICE, right? So let's just clear this up right now. Of course, it's a 55-45 split between the ICE and the battery stuff, right? The 55% is the internal combustion engine. For some reason, the FIA are measuring just that, the V6. Just the ICE, yeah. Just the V6.
Because maybe they thought it was easier to judge it. I don't know what the reasons are. It doesn't make any sense, really.
No, because it's 45% of the entire thing you're doing is not involved.
And also, I would argue the 45% is the biggest problem for some of the teams. It's not the thing that they've been doing for a very long time, which is just the normal internal combustion engine to a lot of degree.
Yeah, definitely. Because an ICE, you know... Back in the good old days when we just had a V8 engine, you saw midfielders getting podiums and things and being fine because it's a very simple engine that everyone builds and everyone's quite close.
But let's be honest, when they start building these really complex power units and things, that's when the field spread gets so massive because all the battery and hybrid issues can be so varied by teams. And that's the bit that they're not measuring here, which is insane to me.
And it feels to me like they don't actually have a method of measuring it. And that's why they've committed to a more simple ICE test to be able to try and close the field. But the problem here is that Red Bull have been deemed to have the best technology. I see. So they get no upgrades, zilch, until it's remeasured in period two of this whole thing.
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Chapter 3: What teams are affected by the new engine regulations?
So essentially... What we do know is that they have all been deemed to be at least 4% behind, which means at least they get $4.65 million extra cash to just burn into their upgrade program and at least 110 hours to work on it. But that can go all the way to $11 million and 230 hours if they're more than 10% behind, i.e. Aston Martin's.
Well, that was a bracket that was literally made for Aston Martin and Honda because they knew that they were going to be so behind and added it even more. This whole situation, I think, is a massive farce. And of course, you know, I'm sat here in a Max Verstappen t-shirt as a Red Bull fan, so I'm sure people are going, well, shock.
But everyone knows in Formula One and everyone in the paddock and everyone that works in Formula One knows that Mercedes have the best power unit. I do think the Red Bull have a very good power unit, has to be said, and they've done a really good job with it. I think it is the car that is letting Red Bull down at the moment.
It's, of course, there's all this talk that they're overweight, which I think is true. And it's the chassis side of things that are letting Red Bull down. But Mercedes, as you say, have won every single race so far. quite, you know, they've been very comfortable.
They've been an absolute rocket ship, particularly, you know, look at China and how they just go through the kind of final sector and things like that and how they are on the straights when we have that little track domination graphic and stuff. And it's always that they can just deploy and they're absolutely unbelievable in that kind of part.
And yet there they now get a chance to catch up on themselves. It's just it's ridiculous. And I get why they've done this, because they're kind of doing it's a bit like the budget cap where they're trying their best to almost have like an NFL style draft where in theory, the teams get closer together and they're trying their absolute best.
So it's not just like the same teams winning all the time. but I don't think it's working personally because we're still seeing the same teams dominating and now a team like Mercedes have even more money to spend.
Yes, so they're allowed to bring an upgrade, Red Bull aren't, and... The thing is as well, they don't have to focus. Just because this test is on the V6 engine, it doesn't mean they have to focus on the V6 engine. They can upgrade their battery side of things, which I imagine is probably where they want to focus on anyway, because of it being brand new as a full system in 2026.
So that gives them flexibility as well to work on whatever they need to. And the thing I find the most insane out of all of this is the privacy. The entire season so far, let's take Ferrari, for example. Hamilton has said almost every Grand Prix, yeah, we're behind on power. Yeah, our engine's not good enough.
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