Red Bull still have F1's most powerful engine

Red Bull have again been found to have the most powerful engine in Formula 1 in the latest rankings by governing body the FIA.

The decision, which mirrors the first set of findings three months ago, will come as a disappointment to the team, who had been hoping to be allowed the possibility to upgrade their engine.

The process has been introduced this year as part of the regulations governing the new hybrid engine regulations, with the aim of allowing manufacturers who have a deficit a chance to catch up.

The FIA's mechanism has been agreed with all the power-unit manufacturers but is nonetheless controversial because Mercedes are widely believed to have the best overall engine performance.

However, the FIA's so-called additional development and upgrade opportunities (Aduo) programme measures only the power of the internal combustion engine.

The electrical elements of the power unit - which account for nearly 50% of the total performance - are not included.

The process is repeated every six races and the latest findings were issued on Wednesday after Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, the 12th race of the season.

A statement from the FIA said that Mercedes were "determined to be in the 2-4% window" (behind the best internal combustion engine), while Audi, Ferrari and Honda were all determined to be "above 4%".

That means Mercedes are allowed one additional upgrade in 2026 and one in 2027, and the other manufacturers, bar Red Bull, two.

Mercedes have won eight of this season's 12 races so far, and Red Bull, who set up a new engine design and manufacturing facility to produce an engine for this year's new rules, none.

Nikolas Tombazis, FIA director of single-seaters, said: "The FIA has undertaken thorough and exhaustive analysis as part of our Aduo review process.

"With the release of the findings of period two, we are confident that, based on the quality of the data, its analysis is incredibly robust, giving us a high level of confidence in our findings.

"We also have to respect the confidentiality and intellectual property of the teams and their power-unit manufacturers in disseminating any details from the findings.

"This is the first year of Aduo so naturally there are areas which we may evolve over time, in discussion with all the power unit manufacturers."