Overview
- The FIA, which published detailed guidance Wednesday, set the first eligibility check to conclude after the Canadian Grand Prix with results due within two weeks.
- Eligibility hinges on a new ICE Performance Index taken from on-car data such as input shaft torque, engine speed and MGU-K power, with relief triggered at a deficit of at least 2% to the best ICE.
- Financial allowances scale with the gap from up to $3 million at 2–4% behind to up to $11 million beyond 10%, and 2026 rules also let a manufacturer pull forward up to $8 million from future cost caps.
- Media reports say Honda, which powers Aston Martin, is the leading candidate and could access allowances of about $19 million if its deficit exceeds 10%, with approved upgrades allowed from the next race.
- Upgrades are tightly controlled and not stackable within a season, can target parts like the turbo, exhaust, MGU-K and control electronics, and the FIA’s Nikolas Tombazis stresses this is cost-cap relief rather than balance-of-performance as Mercedes’ Toto Wolff warns against gamesmanship.