Even with ADUO 2 upgrade, Ferrari is “missing pure power”
Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Fred Vasseur says the Scuderia was never going to reach Mercedes’ level in 2026, in terms of engine power.
The German team has enjoyed the most puissant power unit since F1 switched to new technical regulations this year, but the Additional Development and Upgrades Opportunities system (ADUO) provided an opportunity to catch up for manufacturers who are lacking on that front.
The assessment is actually based on the internal combustion engine, and Red Bull was found to have the most powerful one; consequently, Mercedes was granted one upgrade for 2026 and 2027 each, while Ferrari, Audi and Honda have been entitled to two each.
As it happens, Mercedes is yet to introduce its sole update of the year – it is expected to do so in October – and Ferrari’s own upgrades, which debuted in Austria and at Monza, have failed to bridge the gap.
On the most power-sensitive track of the calendar, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth and fifth; their race result was worse as Leclerc crashed out after clashing with his team-mate at the start. In terms of top speed, the Ferrari power unit was 5.6km/h slower in qualifying (with Haas’ Oliver Bearman).
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images
Motorsport.com pointed out that, just like Vasseur had insisted, Ferrari’s ADUO upgrade had been no game changer. “At least I was right on something,” the Frenchman quipped after a tough home race for the Scuderia. But was it at least in line with expectations, and does energy deployment play a role in the deficit to Mercedes, we asked?
“I don’t want to give details, but when you have a lack of pure power, then you start to play with deployment to try to compensate in one straight line,” Vasseur explained. “But if you deploy more somewhere, for sure you will deploy less somewhere else and then you are going in the wrong spiral to try to play with this when you are fighting.
“Honestly, it’s not about deployment. I think deployment was okay-ish, that even McLaren, they were playing a little bit Friday and Saturday morning. At the end, we are missing pure power.
“The reality of this is that if you are missing X in Zandvoort, you are two or three tenths [down]. If you are missing X minus – I’m using letters because you will try to extrapolate – if you are missing a bit less than X in Monza, the delta with the Merc is two times bigger.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Pressed on whether the lack of engine power might be related to specific design choices, Vasseur pointed to the challenge of keeping spending under control amid the power unit cost cap.
“On the engine, the process is mega long because the lead time of the parts is long and the cost cap is not easy,” he said. “You have to produce the engine for the season. You are already a bit like this and if you want to start to do the development, you have to produce a new batch of engines, and it’s tricky.
“We were not expecting to recover [with] ADUO 1 or ADUO 2. We are doing small steps, but what you have to keep in mind is that if you make a small step on the engine, even if you make a couple of horsepower, it’s a good step on the grid.” In Monza qualifying, just 0.127s separated third-placed Oscar Piastri from Kimi Antonelli in seventh.
“That means that now we will have a new engine next year. For sure, the target is to catch up, to catch up as soon as possible, but I was not expecting that in two months we will recover the delta with Mercedes.”
Other deltas now seem insurmountable: Ferrari’s worst Sunday of the season means the Scuderia’s deficit to Mercedes in the constructors’ championship has ballooned from 87 to 122 points, while Hamilton is now 76 points down in the drivers’ standings after finishing just sixth at Monza.
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