Otmar Szafnauer says he’s heard talk that Mercedes is sandbagging under Formula 1’s new engine rules to keep rivals like Ferrari in check.

But even if it is, he can’t see rivals buying their way to parity as they will still be hamstrung by the power unit budget cap.

Otmar Szafnauer: You can’t spend your way out of a bad powertrain

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This season, Formula 1 swapped to a new engine formula for the first time since 2016, the sport introducing power units that run on a 50/50 split between combustion and electrical power.

Given that any new set of engine regulations is likely to produce performance gaps, the rules included the potential for performance-balancing measures – the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO).

If any PU manufacturers find themselves lagging behind the others in terms of performance, the FIA will spot these deficiencies by way of ongoing performance measurement.

PU manufacturers who are down on performance compared to the leading ICE by two per cent or more will be given scope to develop certain parts of their power units.

Manufacturers trailing by between two and four per cent will be granted one opportunity to develop their power unit this season, while those trailing by four per cent or more will get two opportunities for improvement.

More on F1’s ADUO on PlanetF1.com

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There’s just one problem, as Szafnauer highlighted, the cost cap.

That is limited to $130 million per year starting this year meaning the power unit manufacturers cannot buy their way to success, or even parity, they will have to decide which areas to focus on.

As such Szafnauer does not believe Mercedes‘ engine advantage will be eroded any time soon.

“I’ll tell you what I think, they have done a great job on the powertrain,” he said in the new High Performance Racing podcast.

“For the first time ever, there is a powertrain cost cap; you can’t infinitely spend your way out of a bad powertrain if you don’t have a Mercedes because there is a cost cap.

“So that will hold some of the others back and will allow the advantage that they have today to stay.

“Number two, there is also a freeze that comes in, a progressive freeze on the powertrain, first time ever, so those two things will maintain their advantage on the powertrain side.

“There is if you’re so far behind, there are tokens that you can have to redevelop, and there might even be headroom on cost cap, I don’t know the rules that well; I need to ask the question. But you have got to be two or four or more per cent behind for that to happen.”

He says there’s talk that Mercedes is potentially playing games with its rivals to reduce that deficit percentage by not running the engine to its full capacity.

“I think there are talks now that Mercedes are not showing their true hands, so that Ferrari are now within that two per cent, so they don’t get any further development tokens,” he added.

Mercedes has won all four F1 2026 events, the grands prix and the Sprint in China.

The works team sits 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings with Kimi Antonelli leading by nine points ahead of George Russell, who is 14 ahead of third-placed Charles Leclerc.

As for Mercedes, it is on 135 points, 40 ahead of Ferrari.

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