Jonas Leo
Ben Hodgkinson, the technical director for Red Bull Ford Powertrains, has voiced a strong preference for an unrestricted, "gloves-off" competitive environment among Formula 1 power unit manufacturers, rather than the sport’s newly introduced Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system slated for the 2026 season. His comments highlight a fundamental tension within the sport between fostering pure engineering excellence and ensuring competitive parity.
The backdrop to Hodgkinson’s remarks is the significant overhaul of engine regulations for the 2026 Formula 1 season. These new rules mandate a near 50:50 split between traditional combustion power and electric power, aiming to create a more sustainable and technologically relevant platform. Crucially, the regulations also seek to attract new manufacturers, with Audi confirmed to join and Ford partnering with Red Bull Powertrains. A primary objective behind these changes, and particularly the ADUO system, is to prevent any single power unit supplier from achieving and maintaining the kind of prolonged dominance witnessed in the early years of the turbo-hybrid era, notably by Mercedes from 2014 to 2020. During that period, Mercedes’ superior power unit design gave them a substantial and often insurmountable advantage, leading to a predictable run of championships.
The ADUO mechanism is designed as a direct response to this historical challenge. It stipulates that power units will undergo evaluations after the sixth, twelfth, and eighteenth Grands Prix of each season. For the inaugural 2026 season, these checkpoints are provisionally set for Miami in May, Spa-Francorchamps in July, and Singapore in October. Following each assessment, manufacturers whose engines are determined to be between 2% and 4% down on the most powerful engine will be granted an allowance for one additional upgrade. Those experiencing a more significant deficit, specifically more than 4% down on the leading power unit, will be permitted two additional upgrades. The intent is clear: to provide a regulatory safety net for underperforming manufacturers, allowing them to close performance gaps and maintain a more level playing field throughout the championship.
However, Hodgkinson’s perspective challenges the efficacy and necessity of such a system. "I would personally love just to get rid of homologation, have a gloves-off fight, that’s what I’d really like – but we are where we are, we have a cost cap and we have dyno hours limits, so I think there’s enough limits in place without this," Hodgkinson stated during Red Bull’s 2026 car livery unveiling. His argument hinges on the idea that Formula 1 already employs stringent financial and operational controls, such as the comprehensive cost cap and strict limits on dynamometer (dyno) hours for engine testing. These existing regulations, he contends, inherently restrict development freedom and naturally encourage convergence without needing an explicit handicap system.
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Beyond his philosophical stance, Hodgkinson highlighted several practical challenges that he believes will hinder the ADUO system’s ability to swiftly balance performance. He noted a fundamental difference in development cycles between power units and chassis components. "Because the bit that I don’t think is fully understood actually amongst the rule makers is, like, the gestation time of an idea in power units is much longer than it is in chassis," he explained. Developing a new chassis part, while complex, typically involves a shorter design, manufacturing, and testing loop compared to a power unit component. Engine parts, often characterized by extreme precision engineering, high-temperature materials, and intricate internal combustion or electrical systems, demand extensive validation and durability testing.
This extended gestation period is compounded by the sheer volume of parts required for power unit updates. "So if I need to make a change firstly I’ve not just got two cars to update, I’ve got a whole fleet of engines in the pool, so I could have 12 power units that I need to update, and so that takes time," Hodgkinson elaborated. Unlike a chassis update that might involve components for two primary race cars, a power unit update necessitates modifications across an entire inventory of engines, including those for reserve, testing, and potential customer teams. This logistical burden significantly prolongs the deployment of any new development.
Furthermore, the existing homologation rules, which freeze certain aspects of engine design, create a cautious development environment. Hodgkinson explained, "because we’re homologated you can’t really take a flyer on something that isn’t well proven, because you could be signing up to a world of pain. So we’ve got a minimum number of durability that we’d want to achieve on our new part and our new idea." This implies that manufacturers cannot risk unproven, experimental upgrades, even if permitted by ADUO, due to the severe penalties and performance setbacks that reliability issues could incur within a homologated framework. The manufacturing process itself is another bottleneck, with Hodgkinson noting, "And our parts normally are very, very high-precision metal bits that just take time to manufacture, so we can have 12-week manufacturing time on some bits. And then it will take similar length of time to prove it all out, and then a similar length of time to get it all furnished in the race pool." A 12-week manufacturing cycle, combined with extensive proving and integration time, means that a significant performance deficit identified at one ADUO checkpoint might take months to effectively address and deploy, potentially rendering the mid-season upgrade allowances less impactful than intended.
Hodgkinson therefore remains unconvinced that ADUO will be a "game-changer" in preventing early dominance. He believes that if a manufacturer gains a performance edge at the start of the season, it will be challenging for rivals to close the gap quickly, regardless of the upgrade opportunities. "I think that if a team has an advantage on the power unit in race one it’s going to take some time before anyone else can catch up," he added. He questioned the practicality of implementing substantial upgrades within the assessment timeframe, stating, "I think that it’s quite challenging to come up with an update in a couple of weeks – if I had 20 kilowatts to bolt on the engine right now, I’d do it." This rhetorical challenge underscores the difficulty of rapid, impactful power unit development.
Adding another layer of complexity to the 2026 engine landscape are rumors circulating about a potential "loophole" concerning the internal combustion engine’s (ICE) compression ratio, reportedly identified by both Mercedes and Red Bull. Such a discovery, if verified, suggests that even before the new regulations fully come into force, manufacturers are already exploring technical interpretations that could yield significant performance advantages. This pre-emptive ingenuity highlights the relentless pursuit of performance in F1 and raises questions about how the ADUO system would interact with such early, fundamental design advantages. If one team exploits a regulatory grey area to gain a substantial initial lead, the ADUO system might struggle to bring parity if the advantage stems from a fundamental design concept rather than incremental development.
Red Bull’s position is particularly interesting given their recent success and their substantial investment in Red Bull Powertrains with Ford. Having achieved dominant performance through superior chassis and aerodynamic design, they are now building their own power unit capability. Their desire for a "gloves-off" fight suggests a confidence in their engineering prowess and a belief that merit, rather than mandated equalization, should dictate competitive outcomes. The history of Formula 1 is replete with attempts to balance performance, from engine freezes to token systems, often with mixed results. The ADUO system represents the latest effort to engineer competitive parity, but Hodgkinson’s comments serve as a salient reminder of the inherent difficulties in regulating a sport that thrives on technological innovation and the relentless pursuit of speed. The coming years will reveal whether this new system can genuinely deliver the close competition F1 desires, or if it will merely add another layer of complexity to an already intricate engineering challenge.
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Author Profile
- Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.
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