Toto Wolff slips and admits Mercedes have the most power Formula 1 power unit, Laurent Mekies concurs

The Austrian's statement comes after the FIA conducted the first round of the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) evaluation, which concluded that Red Bull Racing have the best internal combustion engine and granted their rivals upgrades to catch up.

Red Bull have requested a review of that evaluation, as the consensus around the Formula 1 paddock is the Mercedes' power unit is the overall benchmark considering the combined performance of the internal combustion engine and the electric component.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race in Spa, discussing Russell's struggles in a straight line and Mercedes' reliability woes so far in 2026, Wolff said: "We had an issue on all Mercedes engines that we lacked the power out on the straights. That hit him badly, and it 100 percent goes on us.

"We are trying our best as a team. We have the most powerful power unit, a strong car that is capable of winning. Everyone is giving their maximum to minimize the mistakes, and still it happens because we are humans at work.

"We let Kimi down at Silverstone, where George got a podium, which is maybe better than the result should have been.

"Then one DNF for Montreal, the other in Barcelona. That's a little bit of the story of our season. It's a technical sport, a mechanical sport.

"We came out with a product [power unit] that is so strong, and I'd rather fix the reliability rather than accelerate a slow engine or slow car.

"We are giving it 100 per cent and need to give it 100 per cent because we lost a lot of points with reliability. We should be much further ahead than we are," Wolff concluded.

"The most powerful power unit" claim was presented to Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies, who commented: “Toto is right. I also think that they have the most powerful power unit. And certainly they had a sizeable advantage on the straight this weekend again.

“But it's not the first weekend. They have an advantage on the straight most weekends. And this weekend a bit more with the track sensitivity. So we will see what's happening.

"As you said, the second period closing in Budapest in a week's time. We'll see what's happening," he concluded, referring to the second ADUO round, which will be concluded following next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The FIA, are yet to officially publish the first ADUO report.