Toto Wolff wary of F1 rival ‘gamesmanship’ over ADUO engine upgrades
Photo: Race Pictures
17:01, 20 Apr
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Toto Wolff has said he would be "very surprised" and "disappointed" if the FIA allowed ADUO engine upgrades to interfere with the 2026 title fight.
The Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) could allow manufacturers that are struggling with their engine to introduce extra upgrades depending on the performance gap to the grid's reference benchmark - in this case, Mercedes.
If the FIA deem a manufacturer to have a power unit that over 2% behind the benchmark after six races, they will be allowed to make one upgrade later in the year and another for 2027.
Following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix, the first review should come after the Monaco GP in June, with Mercedes currently leading the championship 45 points ahead of Ferrari.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has expressed hope that the ADUO "will be an opportunity for us to close the gap,” but Mercedes' Wolff has warned against "gamesmanship" in using the system to "leapfrog" rather than just "catch up" to the benchmark.
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Wolff warns against ADUO interfering with F1 title fight
Photo: Race Pictures
Speaking to media, including GPblog, Wolff was adamant that the ADUO upgrades should only give struggling teams the chance to catch up with the front of the pack, and noted only one team he thought were in need.
He said: "The principle of the ADUO was to allow teams that were on the back foot in terms of the power unit to catch up, but not to leapfrog.
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"And it needs to be very clear that whatever decisions are being made, whichever team is granted an ADUO that any such decision may have a big impact on the performance picture and on the championship, if not done with absolute precision and clarity and transparency.
“It needs to be clear that gamesmanship hasn't got any place here, but it needs to be with the right spirit here that the FAA acts upon an ADUO. And of course, the teams will have their performance pictures."
While Wolff did not name the supplier he thought needed an ADUO, Aston Martin are the clear strugglers in 2026, only completing one full Grand Prix so far as Honda's extreme power unit vibrations plague their campaign.
Wolff continued: "It seems for me, there's one engine manufacturer that has a problem, and we need to help, and then all the others are pretty much in the same ballpark.
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“So I would be very surprised actually and disappointed if ADUO decisions that were done would come up with any interferences into the competitive pecking order as it stands at the moment.”
Wolff: Mercedes 'not worried' about Ferrari, but 'monitoring' FIA decision
Wolff was also asked whether he was worried about Ferrari gaining an advantage thanks to the ADUO, and possibly getting ahead of the Silver Arrows.
He replied: "I wouldn't call it worried. I think we are all monitoring how decisions are being made.
"And we have precise data from our own analytics of where we see engine performance of our competitors and ourselves."
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The Austrian boss then expressed faith that the FIA would protect the integrity of F1 over the ADUO rules.
“In that respect, I think the FIA is looking at the same data, and the FIA certainly I would very much hope continue to see themselves as protecting the integrity of the sport.
Because you don't want to allow an ADUO to a team that suddenly leapfrogs someone. The ADUO was always meant as a catch-up mechanism, and not as a leapfrog mechanism."
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