The Monaco Grand Prix weekend provided a fair reflection of Red Bull Racing’s current Formula form. On the one hand, Max Verstappen was quick enough to qualify second, ahead of the Ferraris and just off Kimi Antonelli. On the other, the Dutchman failed to get off the line at the start, and wound up touring slowly round to the pits to retire at the end of the first lap … and then, quite literally, walk home.
A power unit issue was the cause of the misery, and it was not the first time this year that the new Ford-backed Red Bull Powertrains DM01 suffered a failure. Verstappen retired in China with an ERS overheating issue, while there have also been a few problems for Isack Hadjar and the Racing Bulls drivers. To be fair, this particular power unit had done the whole season to date, and was due to be pensioned off after Monaco. However, that didn’t make it any less frustrating for Verstappen.
“The formation lap already felt a bit off,” he said when Road & Track asked about his problems. “But then on the pre-start, normally you find your RPM target, but it was not going at all. It was just shooting up and down a lot—weird. And then as soon as I dropped the clutch, that was it. The engine bogged down completely. And after that, the noise that I heard from the engine, once I got some power back out of turn one, was very bad. So I immediately just lifted off, and brought it home.”
Ciancaphoto Studio//Getty Images
It’s been a season of mixed fortunes so far for the new power unit, instigated by the now-departed Christian Horner and backed by late Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, who is remembered in the DM01 type designation. To recap, the project was started after Honda announced it was pulling out of F1. Having previously had a shaky relationship with Renault, Horner wanted the team to control its own destiny and not rely on a third party. Having received the go-ahead and budget from his boss, he headhunted some top talent from Mercedes and built an engine facility next door to the race team. The plan was always to find manufacturer support; after talks with Porsche ended, he managed to land backing from Ford.
Starting an in-house engine project from scratch, with a group of talented people but no actual I.P. on which to draw, was a hugely ambitious (and expensive) project. And yet, from the start of testing, the new power unit has been competitive, albeit with progress hampered by some reliability issues. (Having said that, it’s worth noting that Mercedes has had even more problems across its four teams.) Nevertheless, the performance has been there for Red Bull—and while Monaco is not an out-and-out power circuit, taking second on the grid was another landmark, following from a similar grid position in Miami and a third-place finish—and first Ford F1 podium since 2003—by Verstappen in Montreal.
The strength of the new engine has now reportedly been recognized by the FIA through the new ADUO (or Additional Development Upgrade Opportunities) system; while the results have yet to be officially made public, Lewis Hamilton revealed the news after the Monaco race while talking with Sky Sports. “I think the news came out either yesterday or today that Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we’re behind,” he said, according to ESPN, adding that Ferrari would now be given tokens for potential upgrades as a result.
The system was built into the 2026 rules as a result of concerns that one or other of the manufacturers might have a big advantage with its new power unit, leaving others lagging behind. In order to give those who didn’t quite get it right out of the box, the general idea was to review power unit performance over the opening races, decide on a benchmark, and give upgrade opportunities to the rest on a sliding scale that reflects how far they are off that benchmark, with 2 percent off as the starting point. (Honda has so clearly missed the target that, a few weeks ago, it was decided anyone who was more than 10 percent off would receive even more help.)
NurPhoto//Getty Images
Despite Mercedes dominating the results, the FIA had decreed that the RBP/Ford unit is the benchmark, and that everyone else can get extra upgrades—including Mercedes. It sounds bizarre, given how well Mercedes is doing on track. However, a successful F1 car is a complete package, and with ADUO the focus is on the internal-combustion V-6. The FIA has crunched the numbers and reportedly decided that Red Bull/Ford has done the best job.
However, the newcomers will now have to watch rivals deploy valuable upgrades. In fact, as of Thursday morning, Red Bull has reportedly requested clarification from the FIA as to why its engine was chosen as the benchmark, thus leaving it ineligible for ADUO improvements; as a result, multiple outlets claim the FIA is reviewing the findings before an official release.
It must be a bit frustrating for Red Bull and Ford to see others given a helping hand by the ADUO system, amid suggestions that some rivals may have gamed the system. But it’s a compliment of sorts, and proof that the new operation has done a good job. The next steps have to be the first pole and first win—and a little more reliability.
Despite the obvious disappointment of retiring so early, Verstappen drew some encouragement from Monaco. “We had a really good weekend up until the race,” he said. “Of course, everyone is very disappointed not to be on the podium. If I would be leading the championship, then of course it [would be] a very, very painful one; like this, less painful, but it’s still really annoying and disappointing for everyone. Everyone wants to finish every single race. I just hope that we understand quickly what [the problem] is, and then we can fix it also for the future.”
YURI CORTEZ//Getty Images
Could he have beaten Antonelli in Monaco? It would have required either a first corner pass, or a great bit of strategy. “We will never know,” says Red Bull team boss Laurent Meikies. “But certainly—the level at which Max has been running in qualifying, not just one lap, was very impressive. And we know that every time you manage to get Max comfortable with the car, you get that extra ‘Max effect.’ So I would have liked to see what it would have done in the race.”