Jun.30 (GMM) Audi boss Mattia Binotto has questioned whether Mercedes cleverly positioned itself to benefit from Formula 1’s controversial ADUO engine concession system.
Under the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities rules, manufacturers trailing the benchmark engine are permitted extra development steps to close the performance gap.
Red Bull-Ford emerged from the FIA’s assessment with the strongest combustion engine, meaning rivals including Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Audi qualified for varying levels of ADUO assistance.
“Everyone knew that Red Bull had a good engine, but Mercedes’s is in no way inferior,” Binotto told f1-insider.com.
“Perhaps they haven’t been able to fully exploit its potential for reliability reasons or other reasons, because they have cleverly managed to secure this ADUO advantage.”
The Italian is also unconvinced by the concession system itself.
“Having an advantage meant there was no reason to keep pushing,” Binotto said. That’s the limit of the current regulations.”
“Additional upgrades should be awarded based on a ranking system, like with the chassis.”
“There’s no hiding from that.”
Audi has already used the first of its own permitted ADUO upgrades, introducing revised hardware at Barcelona centred around an updated turbocharger designed to improve drivability.
However, Audi racing director Allan McNish suggested the second upgrade may not arrive until next season.
“We know where we stand,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.
“Our very first power unit is proving quite robust, and the initial teething problems have now been ironed out. Changes like the one in Barcelona are small, but important.”
When asked about the next ADUO step, he replied: “In all likelihood, the next real step won’t come until 2027.”
Honda appears to be taking a similarly cautious approach despite also qualifying for two ADUO upgrades this year.
“We focused on implementing numerous updates,” Honda chief race engineer Shintaro Orihara said of the first package. “After the summer shutdown, we have a different strategy for next year.”
“Instead of making small updates periodically, we have a long-term roadmap to improve our performance.”
Until then, he said, “We need to keep working to optimise our strategy before incorporating a new power unit.”
Partner Aston Martin is also resisting the temptation to follow rivals introducing frequent updates, instead sticking with Adrian Newey’s strategy of waiting for a much larger package later in the season.
“I already have enough on my plate with our own team, so I don’t pay much attention to what others are doing,” team boss Mike Krack said.
“If they continue developing at the current pace, we all know that at some point we have to start with a new car. But, I repeat, I’m not sure what the other teams’ strategies are.”
Krack admitted the wait for Aston Martin’s next major upgrade is “purely psychological”.
“We’re at 80 or 90 percent (of performance compared to the others), we’re not that far off. Let’s say there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
“We’ll get through the next two races with the situation we have. Of course I’m disappointed, but it’s the decision we made.”