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).

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Pit-equated Race Pace (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!

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.

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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.

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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.

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Article on the topic:

ADUO F1 engine upgrades decision revealed

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Related post:

2026 Car Regulations | Estimated ICE Power of Manufacturers: Which team do YOU think will have the best in-season development?

How ICE power was estimated:

1. All 2026 Quali, Sprint & Race sessions;
2. Laps with glitchy telemetry excluded;
3. Straight-mode instants only: throttle >99%, no braking;
4. Same drag area (CdA) assumed for all cars;
5. ERS deployment profile estimated, then subtracted to isolate ICE power.

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