ADUO FIGURES REVEALED 💥

Not only is the Mercedes ICE NOT the most powerful; they're over 2% behind RBPT (a 12-24 hp deficit), so they will benefit from ADUO!

Ferrari (and Audi) DID fall in the 4-6% deficit range → can catch up.

Honda is so far behind it landed in the newly added 6-8% range, unlocking more budget and development time.

No one expected that about Mercedes. Ferrari can finally develop their engine... but so can Mercedes! A huge blow to Ferrari's championship hopes.

Each manufacturer's ICE power estimation I made on the 13th of April, using all the qualifying and race sessions available at the time:

https://t.me/FDataAn/2636

I often read 'The ADUO only considers the ICE power, not the ERS; Mercedes has the best ERS; that's why they got the 2-% ADUO' - but that's wrong!

Read on to understand why 💡

The 🔋ERS does NOT produce energy: it simply deploys what it previously harvested. ALL energy originates from the ⛽️ ICE.

Harvesting happens:
- At partial throttle, when the ICE produces MORE energy than can be put down (the ERS harvests the surplus).
- When coasting or braking, using the car's kinetic energy.

Having a more powerful ICE:
- Extends the partial throttle phase → more harvesting ✅
- Raises top speed → more kinetic energy → more harvesting ✅

Maximum power (tractive and harvesting) is fixed by the rules, and electric motor efficiency is already extremely high (90-95%), so even halving the losses yields only marginal gains.

Conclusion: the most powerful ICE means the strongest ERS too, unless a team gets its harvesting/deployment strategy completely wrong!

[ADUO is evaluated using an "ICE Performance Index", calculated from the ICE's average power and the lap time's sensitivity to power. The exact formula is kept confidential to prevent manufacturers from gaming the system].

Monaco delivered the first 2026 quali laps with NO CLIPPING! 💡

Antonelli's Pole Laps

⬛️ Miami:
🟢 Acceleration decreases linearly with speed;
🟠 ERS transitions from deploy to harvest → Acceleration drops to 0;
🔴 Car stays full-throttle yet loses speed (negative acceleration, clipping).

🟦 Monaco:
Acceleration never turns negative; ANT keeps gaining speed until the braking point.

Two reasons for this:
- Monaco's layout: plenty of harvesting opportunities and short full-throttle stretches.
- A rule change: ERS power had to taper off above 200 km/h.

Active aero (for drag reduction) was also disabled.

As a result, acceleration was lower overall and dropped off more quickly with speed: the combined effect of reduced ERS power and higher drag!

Yet another proof that reducing ERS's power share would benefit the sport!

Made via @JMP_software

New F1 PU regulations: ~1100hp in 2028! 🤩

- Increased ICE power (+20 kW in '27, +50 kW in '28) via higher fuel flow.
- Decreased ERS power (-50 kW), but NOT in overtake mode (which gets STRONGER, increasing power vs Std.).
- Increased harvesting power: same energy harvested in less time.

Consequences:
- LESS total power (-30 kW) in '27, back to baseline in '28.
- MORE total power in overtake mode: 800 kW in '28 (~1090 hp), exceeding 1100 hp through PU development!
- ICE power share rises to 60% (up from 53% today) → less clipping (the +400 kW harvesting power will help too).

Net result: higher performance and top speeds, less clipping.

Not a massive shift, but one that satisfied manufacturers!

📊 BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GP - RACE | RACE PACE
PIT-EQUATED (1 extra pit = 22s lost)

The VSC timing may have gifted HAM the lead, but it was HIS PACE that put him there!. 🏆

1) 🟥 Ferrari / HAM
2) 🟩 Mercedes / ANT (first time they're not P1)
3) 🟧 McL / NOR (~ same pace as ANT!)
4) 🟦 RBR / VER

On his extra stint, HAM was six-tenths faster than ANT on average, and still 0.27s/lap quicker even after accounting for the additional stop!

📊 BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GP - RACE | TYRE DEGRADATION

The Hard was the tyre to be! The Medium had worse degradation and pace (as the drivers couldn't push as much on it), but still miles better than the Soft.

📊 KEY F1 QUALI STATS (Averages - 2025 vs 2026)

- 2025: McL >> RBR > Mercedes > Ferrari >> Williams;
- 2026: Mercedes >> Ferrari > McL > RBR >> Alpine.

- Mercedes got ALL poles (so far) in 2026; McL's 'just' 13 out of 24 in 2025.

- New regulations → Much larger field spread.

Average gap to pole more than DOUBLED: from 0.86% of laptime (~0.7s) to 1.79% (~1.5s).

F1 All-Time Official Top Speed Record To Fall in 2026?

F1's All-Time Official Top Speed Record (372.54 km/h, Williams in Mexico 2016) could fall this year, even though '26 cars have just ~550 hp above 350 km/h. That's the impact of running minimal drag! 🚀

BOR smashed Catalunya's previous record (349 km/h, STR in '21): he hit 360 km/h on lap 2 (so on a full tank, which limited his acceleration)! He was also 25m behind the car ahead, while STR was right on the gearbox of the car in front (and on lap 59, so with far less fuel onboard).

Mark my words: speeds will exceed 370 km/h in Mexico (thanks to the low air density), and we'll see the highest speeds ever clocked in F1, despite very low ICE power!

[Only official/confirmed top speed values considered.]


Via @JMP_software
(Idea by @yelistener)

📊 Austrian GP - Qualifying | Quali Analysis

🟩 Mercedes (RUS) got pole by being competitive everywhere.

🟥 Ferrari was still the slowest on the straights despite the updated engine. Best-in-grid downforce.

🟦 RBR: Best Top Speed.

🟧 McL: Lacks aero efficiency (Low top speed, slowest in fastest corner).

📊 Austrian GP - Race | Race Pace Analysis

Verstappen had the best race pace, by a tiny margin (0.07s). Great comeback after the crash!

ANT almost as quick as RUS, McLaren 3rd best car.

Ferrari’s extra stop didn’t pay off: HAM was barely quicker than PIA, who pitted twice.

Racing Bulls best of the rest.

🏎 Ferrari's Terrible Tyre Wear at the Barcelona-Catalunya and Austrian GP

Ferrari's tyre wear on the Medium compound was terrible - TWICE that of the other teams 😳 (>1.5s/lap slower after just 13 laps)!

In Catalunya, their higher wear forced a 3-stop strategy, which proved best. They were forced into the same approach in Austria, where, however, a 2-stopper was actually better.

So in Catalunya, worse wear + the best strategy evened out. In Austria, it was worse wear AND worse strategy!

On the Hards, Ferrari was the slowest top team. On Mediums, they pushed too hard at the start of the stint (matching Mercedes' lap times), and their wear skyrocketed. The extreme heat likely hurt their rear grip, which LEC said was missing.

Plenty to learn and improve on for the next races..

📊 Austrian GP - Qualifying | Mercedes's Deployment Secret?

I've looked at ALL laps from Austria Quali and found big differences in deployment/harvesting strategies! 👀

⬛️ Mercedes: acceleration drops minimally with speed. They can do this because they harvest at FULL THROTTLE below 150 km/h - something no other team does!
🟦 RBR: strong deployment and minimal harvesting at ~200 km/h, but acceleration drops massively with speed. Clipping lasts a long time, though less intense than Mercedes'.
🟥 Ferrari: sits between the two extremes, and has the lowest acceleration above 310 km/h (weak ICE).

Cars will be energy-starved at Silverstone: a strong ICE and a smart ERS strategy will be critical!

Via @JMP_software