Red Bull Racing did not dispute Toto Wolff’s recent statement about Mercedes’ superiority in 2026. On the contrary, Laurent Mekies stated that he agrees with the head of the German team and acknowledged that the rival team currently has the strongest power unit in Formula 1.
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This recognition gains relevance amidst the debate about the additional development opportunities (ADUO) system introduced by this year’s regulations. The mechanism was created to allow manufacturers who have fallen behind to make extra updates to their engines.
With the arrival of the new rules, power units began to divide their energy delivery equally between the combustion engine and the electric system. The development program, however, only considers the performance of the combustion engine to define which manufacturers receive additional permissions.
In the first evaluation of the system, Red Bull Powertrains-Ford appeared as a benchmark among the five manufacturers thanks to the performance of its combustion engine. Mercedes came in second, while Ferrari, Audi, and Honda formed the next group, receiving more upgrade opportunities.
Despite this, Wolff drew attention during the Belgian GP weekend, stating that Mercedes has the most powerful power unit on the grid: “We had a problem with all Mercedes engines, there was a lack of power on the straights, and that hurt him a lot. It is 100% our responsibility, but we have the most powerful power unit,” said the Mercedes executive.
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This statement raised questions in the paddock, especially because the system used by the FIA only considers part of the power unit. Former category driver and current commentator, Karun Chandhok, even suggested that if he were at Red Bull, he would immediately contact the entity to discuss the situation.
However, Mekies adopted a different tone when commenting on Wolff’s words after the race in Spa-Francorchamps: “I think Toto is right. I also believe they have the most powerful power unit. They certainly had a significant advantage on the straights again this weekend,” he said.
The Red Bull Racing boss also stated that Mercedes’ superiority is nothing new in 2026: “It’s not the first weekend. They have an advantage on the straights in most races. This time, it was a bit bigger because of the track characteristics. Let’s see what happens. The second evaluation period ends in Budapest, so we’ll see what happens,” Mekies concluded. Currently, Mercedes leads the constructors’ championship with 358 points, while Red Bull is only in fourth place.
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