Max Verstappen has revealed that Red Bull are holding discussions with Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, after surprisingly being named the sport’s benchmark power unit manufacturer.
Under the new Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system for 2026, the Milton Keynes-based team was judged to possess the best engine on the grid.
As the benchmark constructor, they will not receive any development upgrades this season.
Instead, rival manufacturers will benefit from extra development allowances to close the calculated performance gap.
Surprise over benchmark engine ruling
A leaked document shows that Mercedes are deemed more than two per cent behind the class leaders, granting them one engine upgrade this year.
Meanwhile, Ferrari, Audi, and Honda will receive two upgrades as they are considered more than four per cent adrift.
The ruling has caught the reigning constructors’ champions off guard, particularly as this is their first season producing their own power units.
“I think we were all a bit surprised in the team with that,” Verstappen admitted ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
“I think we can be proud of the job we have done but it never felt like we were, let’s say, the best.”
“That’s why we were surprised and that’s why I think we’re discussing with the FIA to understand what happened there.”
Overcoming pre-season reliability fears
There were initial concerns that the newly formed Red Bull Powertrains division would struggle to remain competitive against established manufacturers.
Despite ongoing reliability issues, the Dutch driver described his team’s efforts behind the scenes as highly impressive.
“Of course, we still have some reliability things, but overall, it’s honestly nice to be a part of it, and seeing the drive of the people, and what they want to do,” he added.
The three-time world champion noted that both he and the factory staff share a relentless drive and are equally disappointed when operations do not run perfectly.
He explained that while the squad feels a sense of pride, there remains significant confusion over suddenly being portrayed as the dominant force.
Track performance contradicts findings
The ADUO findings contrast sharply with track performance during the opening six rounds of the 2026 season.
Mercedes have dominated the early stages of the championship, building a commanding 79-point lead over Ferrari.
The Silver Arrows have clearly possessed the fastest car and demonstrated superior straight-line speed.
This early dominance makes the governing body’s engine assessment even more perplexing to the majority of the paddock.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli insists he still has plenty to prove despite building a commanding 66-point lead in the Formula 1 championship after winning five of the opening six races.
The 19-year-old Italian currently sits comfortably ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings heading into the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
His team-mate George Russell, who claimed victory in the season opener, has endured a recent slump and trails the championship leader by 68 points.
But the teenager remains grounded about his blistering start to the campaign.
“There are questions that still need to be answered on my side – how much further I can go in a short period of time, how much I can push myself even further and how much I can grow and how big is the potential?”
Overcoming early career struggles
The rising motorsport star admitted that a mid-season dip during his debut campaign last year severely knocked his confidence.
He struggled for pace and suffered multiple incidents throughout the European leg of the calendar.
However, the Mercedes prodigy now views that turbulent period as a crucial factor in his rapid development.
“Last year I would doubt a lot myself, especially during that difficult period in Europe.”
“This year it’s a different story and you mature a lot after one year in F1 not only as a driver but also as a person.”
“Considering how bad it was in the moment, I am very grateful it happened because it made me grow a lot and taught me a lot about myself. This year I haven’t been questioning or doubting myself.”
Turning the tables on Russell
The contrasting fortunes within the Silver Arrows garage this year represent a drastic shift from the previous season.
The Italian finished his rookie year seventh in the standings, trailing his British stablemate by a massive 169 points.
He managed just a single podium finish in Canada last season, while his more experienced colleague secured two grand prix victories.
This year, the momentum has swung firmly in favour of the young title contender.
He currently leads their qualifying head-to-head battle with a 5-4 advantage and an average gap of 0.110 seconds.
Embracing the championship pressure
Russell has undeniably suffered from misfortune, including a botched pit stop that triggered a penalty in Monaco last weekend.
Yet the British driver openly conceded in the principality that he is struggling to extract maximum performance from the car.
Meanwhile, the championship leader attributes his own success to a deeper understanding of the sport and better energy management.
“The experience, being able to come back into the weekend and having done it the year before plays a massive difference.”
“You become more aware of your potential and you know better the team, it’s all little things that play a massive role.”
Despite carrying the weight of a title charge, the current frontrunner insists the mounting pressure has not derailed his focus.
Alpine have successfully advanced their Right of Review over two pit-lane speeding penalties handed to Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix, raising the prospect of a late change to the final race results.
The French manufacturer cleared a demanding initial threshold with the governing body after providing fresh evidence regarding faulty timing loops in the Monte Carlo pit lane.
Gasly crossed the finish line in third position on Sunday but was relegated to seventh after stewards applied two separate five-second time sanctions.
Both infractions recorded the 28-year-old at less than 0.5kph above the mandatory 60kph limit.
Faulty timing loops provide crucial new evidence
To trigger a formal review, competitors must present significant and relevant new information that was unavailable to race officials at the time of the original decision.
The Enstone-based outfit successfully argued that Formula One Management and the FIA were already aware of systemic issues with the pit-lane timing infrastructure prior to the race.
Crucially, the race stewards themselves had not been informed about these technical discrepancies before penalising drivers during the prestigious street race.
Driver maintains innocence over pit-lane entry
Telemetry data submitted during the hearing confirmed the former AlphaTauri driver had engaged his pit limiter well before crossing the mandatory entry line.
A witness statement detailed how engineers had previously warned him about the timing issues, prompting a deliberate and cautious approach during his pit stops.
The sport’s official timekeepers eventually furnished evidence proving the distance between the measurement loops was inaccurate, resulting in multiple drivers having their speeds overestimated.
Wider grid implications for Monaco standings
The dispute will now progress to a decisive second hearing where team representatives will formally request that the time penalties are completely quashed.
Following the chequered flag last weekend, an incensed Gasly had publicly described the regulatory situation as entirely unfair.
If the original podium finish is restored, the resultant points shift will alter the final Monaco classification and significantly impact rival teams in the constructors’ championship.
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton will miss the opening practice session at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix to allow rookie Dino Beganovic to take the wheel.
The seven-time world champion enters the Spanish event fresh from a second-placed finish behind Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli in Monaco.
Antonelli currently holds a commanding 66-point lead over the British veteran in the drivers’ championship standings.
Formula 1 regulations mandate that every full-time driver must surrender their seat on two separate occasions each year to provide junior talent with vital track time.
Beganovic gets Ferrari opportunity
Swedish prospect Beganovic has spent several years developing his race craft within the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy.
The young driver already has two previous first practice outings under his belt and views the familiar Montmelo circuit as an ideal testing ground.
“My aim is to do the job the team requires of me, provide useful feedback, and adapt to the car as much as possible.”
He added that adapting to the new car regulations quickly will be his primary focus during the 60-minute session.
“Putting on the red race suit, getting back behind the wheel, and working closely with the engineers and mechanics is something unique, so I’m really looking forward to Barcelona.”
Aston Martin brace for further pain
Elsewhere in the paddock, Fernando Alonso has warned his Aston Martin team to expect more difficult weekends before significant car upgrades arrive.
The constructor has opted against bringing incremental improvements, choosing instead to wait for one major aerodynamic package to comply with strict cost cap restrictions.
The two-time world champion secured his team’s first point of the season on the streets of Monte Carlo last time out.
That top-10 finish only materialised after Cadillac driver Sergio Perez received a post-race penalty, leaving the Silverstone-based outfit languishing near the bottom of the constructors’ standings.
Aston Martin’s deeply disappointing start to the 2026 Formula 1 season has reportedly sparked a massive behind-the-scenes row between owner Lawrence Stroll and chief aerodynamicist Adrian Newey prior to the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based outfit entered the current campaign with incredibly high expectations following the high-profile capture of the legendary car designer from Red Bull Racing.
However, the anticipated push to the front of the grid has rapidly descended into a nightmare scenario for the ambitious constructor.
The new AMR26 challenger remains overweight and plagued by extreme vibrations, severely limiting the performance of drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Stroll feeling the pressure
Former driver Ralf Schumacher has now revealed the extent of the internal friction gripping the struggling racing stable.
Speaking on a podcast following the Monte Carlo race, the German pundit claimed that Newey was forced to attend the street circuit despite suffering from a recent illness.
The team’s billionaire owner reportedly mandated the 67-year-old’s presence as frustrations rapidly boiled over regarding their lack of competitive pace.
“There’s a massive row going on behind the scenes; Lawrence Stroll is, of course, anything but happy. It’s turned into something of a walk of shame for him by now.”
Ralf Schumacher
A glimmer of hope amid the gloom
The troubled engineering project was initially blamed on the team’s new Honda power unit, but focus has recently shifted towards fundamental flaws in the chassis design.
Despite the ongoing mechanical issues and heavy grid penalties, the two-time world champion Alonso miraculously secured the team’s first point of the season with a 10th-place finish in the principality.
That solitary point, however, appears entirely insufficient to ease the mounting pressure on the Canadian businessman’s substantial financial investment.
With six Constructors’ Championships on his illustrious CV, the celebrated British aerodynamicist now faces an immense challenge to rescue the failing campaign.
Formula 1 bosses have agreed to alter the sport’s engine regulations for the 2027 and 2028 seasons to increase internal combustion output.
The 2026 campaign introduced a strict 50-50 division between internal combustion and the energy recovery system.
However, motorsport executives have now approved a move away from this balanced configuration for the V6 hybrid power units.
When the 2027 championship begins, the technical framework will mandate a 58/42 split in favour of the traditional combustion element.
Further combustion increases planned
This regulatory adjustment will be extended again the following year.
For the 2028 season, the combustion contribution will rise to 60 per cent of the overall power output.
Consequently, the electrical component of the hybrid system will decrease to account for the remaining 40 per cent.
These technical directives mark a swift recalibration for the pinnacle of motorsport following the major regulatory overhaul implemented in 2026.
Modifying the specifications so rapidly suggests an ongoing effort by the governing body to refine on-track performance and address complex engineering challenges.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton believes his first grand prix victory for Ferrari is imminent after securing consecutive second-place finishes to move up to second in the 2026 Drivers’ Championship.
The 41-year-old endured a difficult debut campaign with the Scuderia in 2025 but has experienced a remarkable resurgence this season.
Following a maiden podium in red in China, the British driver has claimed back-to-back runner-up spots in Canada and Monaco.
These impressive results leave the Formula 1 veteran trailing championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 66 points.
“I mean, it couldn’t be closer,” he admitted following the Monaco Grand Prix.
“But it’s still 66 points. I can’t believe that I’m second in the championship and I’m really happy and thankful for that.”
Praise for Mercedes successor Antonelli
Antonelli replaced the sport’s most successful driver at Mercedes last year and has dominated the early stages of the current campaign.
The 19-year-old Italian has secured victory in the last five consecutive races for the Silver Arrows.
He is currently thriving under the guidance of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and former race engineer Peter Bonnington.
“He is doing a phenomenal job,” stated Hamilton.
“He’s got an amazing team around him with Bono, with Toto and the whole team. And I’m really happy to see them doing what they do best.”
Chasing down the championship leader
Despite the significant points deficit, the record-breaking centurion remains highly motivated by his younger rival.
“It just encourages me to want to level up, and I think encourages everybody wanting to level up,” he explained.
“I’m going to do my best to try and chase him down for the rest of the year.”
The former McLaren star likened Antonelli’s meteoric rise to his own breakout rookie season in 2007.
“It’s a real privilege to witness it, be on the podium with two of the youngest guys here,” he added.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted his discomfort at celebrating Kimi Antonelli’s Monaco Grand Prix victory on the podium following another difficult race for George Russell.
World championship leader Antonelli converted his pole position into a dominant fifth successive victory on the streets of Monte Carlo.
However, his British team-mate suffered a miserable afternoon and finished outside the points after a contentious pit-lane speeding penalty was incorrectly served.
The differing fortunes of the two drivers have seen the championship gap between the pair widen to 68 points.
A rare rostrum appearance
Formula 1 regulations dictate that the winning constructor must send a representative to collect a trophy during the post-race ceremony.
The Austrian executive made a highly unusual appearance to accept the award in his home city after a scheduled board member had to leave early for a flight.
“I haven’t gone to a podium for 10 years because it’s always difficult to balance between one side of the garage being happy, the other one not.”
“Today I couldn’t avoid it because the board member that I wanted to go to has said he needs to catch a flight, and then the team said, you’ve got to go, it’s the home place.”
“While standing there, I’m always with mixed feelings.”
Misfortune strikes again
While the Italian driver has enjoyed an incredible run of form, his garage-mate has now endured four consecutive races without a top-three finish.
That barren streak has seen him lose second place in the drivers’ standings to his former colleague, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
The British racer was previously leading the Montreal event in May before a devastating power unit failure forced his retirement.
“The Montreal race was his to win. We let him down.”
“In Monaco, probably we could have had a podium if not for the penalty mistake.”
Drawing on past title battles
The Mercedes chief suggested that his struggling driver should look to the previous season’s title race for motivation.
During that campaign, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri initially looked destined for championship glory before a poor run saw him finish behind both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
“I’ve talked with him on Saturday and Sunday – this is a long championship.”
“Last year, I remember people saying, well, Piastri has won that.”