Why the FIA says the Red Bull engine is the best in F1

If you've been following Formula 1 this past week, you might have seen a headline that seems to make absolutely no sense: Red Bull Powertrains currently has the benchmark engine in Formula 1. As in the "best" engine…

Despite being 4th in the Constructors' Championship and 7th (Max Verstappen) and 8th (Isack Hadjar) in the WDC, Redbull somehow has the best engine in F1 (according to the FIA ADUO system)

Which doesn’t add up at first because Mercedes has been the team winning races (literally every race this season so far)

Soooo, how can Red Bull supposedly have the best engine while Mercedes appears to have the faster and overall better car?

The answer comes down to one very important detail: the FIA isn't measuring the entire power unit, it's only measuring one part of it.

Formula 1 engines aren't really engines anymore

When people talk about a Formula 1 "engine", they're usually referring to the entire power unit, but actually, a modern Formula 1 power unit is made up of several different systems working together.

There is the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), which is the traditional petrol engine.

Then there is the electrical side of the power unit, which includes the battery, the MGU-K energy recovery system, and the software that manages how energy is harvested and deployed throughout a lap.

All of that means: Formula 1 cars are constantly collecting energy when the driver brakes, and then that energy is stored in a battery and can later be used to provide an extra boost of power.

The challenge in 2026 is deciding when to use that generated energy.

So, a team might choose to deploy more energy down a long straight, save some for an overtaking opportunity, or use it to improve acceleration out of slower corners. A big factor that can make or break performance is the software that controls those decisions.

That's why two cars with similar combustion engines can still perform very differently… it's their software.

Or, one might have a better battery, recover more energy under braking, or deploy that energy more effectively throughout the lap.

All of those elements contribute to the car's performance.

So, a team can have a slightly weaker combustion engine but still produce a faster overall package through better energy management and hybrid performance (in this case, Mercedes)

What the FIA was actually measuring

The FIA's assessment was carried out as part of the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system.

The purpose of this system is to identify manufacturers that have fallen behind and allow them opportunities to improve their engines despite development restrictions (to avoid another 2014 Mercedes domination situation… even though the system isn’t exactly nerfing the dominant team in 2026: Mercedes)

Anyway, to do the assessment for ADUO, the FIA needs a benchmark.

For its first assessment, the benchmark was determined using only the Internal Combustion Engine.

So they didn’t include the battery, the MGU-K, the hybrid systems, or the overall power unit.

They literally looked at just the combustion engine itself.

Aaaaaaand, based on those measurements, Red Bull Powertrains came out on top.

So why is Mercedes winning with a "weaker" engine?

Because the fastest combustion engine and the fastest overall power unit are not necessarily the same thing.

The Redbull engine

The FIA's findings say that Red Bull currently has the strongest combustion engine.

The Mercedes engine

But Mercedes appears to have built an extremely effective package around its own engine through energy deployment, hybrid performance and overall integration.

The result is a car that remains extremely competitive despite not having the benchmark ICE.

The FIA's decision doesn't mean Red Bull suddenly has the fastest car (they’re quite far from it)

… but it also doesn’t mean Mercedes has built a poor engine.

What it tells us is that Formula 1's 2026 power units are far more complicated than simply comparing horsepower figures, and performance can come from many different areas.

While Red Bull may have won the battle for the best combustion engine, Mercedes appears to be winning in other areas that contribute just as much to lap time, if not more.

That's why the FIA's ruling raises such an interesting question…

If Mercedes is already winning races while being judged to have a weaker combustion engine than Red Bull, what happens if it manages to close that gap too?

Because, despite leading the championship, Mercedes now qualifies for additional engine development under Formula 1's ADUO system.

In other words, the fastest team on the grid has just been given more tools to become even faster.