Stewards decide: Does Perez keep his first point of the season?

After Charles Leclerc crashed out of his home Grand Prix, the 78-lap race was halted by a red flag due to bits of tarmac coming loose at the final corner.

Once that issue was sorted, the cars returned to the track for a standing start to finish the final eight laps in the principality, and during that, Perez was deemed to have been out of his grid slot, which meant he was under investigation.

The Mexican did cross the line and was classified in tenth place come the end of the race, but the FIA handed out a ten second time penalty.

As a result, Cadillac missed out on their maiden points in Formula 1, allowing Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin to take tenth place and earn one point for the British team.

Perez was not the only driver to have been hindered by penalties, as Alpine's Pierre Gasly dropped from P3 to P7 due to a ten- second time penalty.

That penalty was given due to speeding in the pit lane, with the Frenchman and teammate Franco Colapinto both caught out by this, along with Oscar Piastri and George Russell.

After the race, Alpine stated that they would be requesting a Right to Review from the FIA regarding these penalties.

Under the 2026 power unit framework, the FIA’s ADUO scheme grants extra development and budget cap allowances to manufacturers lagging the benchmark by set thresholds.

The ADUO system was introduced as part of Formula 1's 2026 engine regulations to prevent manufacturers from falling too far behind while maintaining a competitive championship. Under the rules, engine suppliers that are deemed to be trailing the leading power unit by a certain percentage are granted additional development opportunities and financial allowances within the budget cap.

With Red Bull-Ford provisionally deemed the current benchmark, it is barred from performance updates while rivals can upgrade—Mercedes is around 2% back, Ferrari about 4%, Audi between 4–6%, and Honda 6–8%.

That dynamic could compress the field across 2026–27 as trailing suppliers gain multiple upgrade windows and additional millions under the cost cap.

Having built the strongest power unit under Formula 1's new regulations, the team now faces the prospect of watching its rivals steadily close the gap through additional development opportunities over the next two seasons.

For Red Bull, the challenge may no longer be building the best engine. It may be holding onto its advantage.