{"id":39550,"date":"2026-04-01T05:17:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=39550"},"modified":"2026-04-01T05:23:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:23:01","slug":"ferrari-engine-upgrades-in-pipeline-to-close-mercedes-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2026\/04\/01\/ferrari-engine-upgrades-in-pipeline-to-close-mercedes-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferrari engine upgrades in pipeline to close Mercedes gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

After two encouraging rounds in Australia and China, Ferrari’s SF-26 had a more difficult time in Japan. This is not to say the Italian team were uncompetitive – given that Leclerc<\/a> overcame unfortunate Safety Car timing to secure a podium.<\/p>\n

Leclerc kept behind George Russell in his W17 for several laps to finish third, an important moral triumph for the team.<\/p>\n

Still, Antonelli ultimately triumphed in dominant fashion for Mercedes. By extension, McLaren<\/a> finally had a representative weekend – with Piastri demonstrating the MC40’s strong performance.<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, Japan was a reminder that Mercedes engines are the benchmark to start 2026. Thankfully for Ferrari, they will are set to have the opportunity to bring upgrades and close the gap.<\/p>\n

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Ferrari to fall under ADUO<\/h2>\n

Engine development, much like chassis and aerodynamic work, is constantly happening behind the scenes. However, there is a key difference in how teams are allowed to improve their power units compared to other areas.<\/p>\n

Under the 2026 regulations, engine manufacturers must fall under ADUO to make improvements.<\/p>\n

ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) determines whether teams are eligible to bring mid-season power unit upgrades.<\/p>\n

The criteria under this mechanism is relatively simple – engines within 2% of the fastest power units care not allowed to bring upgrades until the following season. Manufacturers between 2-4% are permitted to introduce one upgrade during the season.<\/p>\n

Those in an even worse position (more than 4% off the benchmark) can bring two mid-season engine upgrades.<\/p>\n

Ferrari<\/a>, of course, have been developing their power unit irrespective of these constraints. Regardless of whether the Italian team could implement mid-season updates, more dramatic changes to the 2027 engine are already in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Bigger modifications to the power unit architecture and design can only be accomplished over a longer time frame.<\/p>\n

Still, Fred Vasseur’s squad<\/a> are also developing short and medium-term solutions that can be implemented in the coming months. When the season began, it was unclear if Ferrari would fall under the necessary requirements to receive ADUO.<\/p>\n

However, the paddock consensus is that Ferrari’s engine deficit to Mercedes exceeds the 2% threshold. The team themselves believe they are within this range.<\/p>\n

As a result, once F1 returns in May for the Miami GP, Maranello will begin an aggressive development trajectory. More broadly, a significant batch of aerodynamic upgrades have already been in production for some time.<\/p>\n

These were planned even before Australia – but were being finalised as the team collected data from the circuit and compared it to their wind tunnel and simulation tools.<\/p>\n

The Scuderia are satisfied with the accuracy of the correlation of their development tools with the SF-26’s behaviour on track. Because of this, there is enough confidence for the team to go ahead with its upgrades.<\/p>\n

Fred Vasseur said in Japan that he expects a “different Championship” starting at round four in Miami. Given the catalogue of upgrades that are scheduled, this interpretation is understandable.<\/p>\n

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Closing the gap to Mercedes power<\/h4>\n

Despite Ferrari’s strong chassis and aerodynamic baseline, the engineers in Maranello still believe they can improve the SF-26’s performance in medium-speed corners and under braking.<\/p>\n

Of course, the advantage Mercedes<\/a> enjoy with their engine is something Vasseur’s personnel want to eliminate.<\/p>\n

This is why falling under the ADUO criteria is so important.<\/p>\n

Should the Maranello outfit receive confirmation they are eligible for performance updates to their engine, modifications will arrive relatively quickly.<\/p>\n

As mentioned previously, Ferrari have worked on a combination of adjustments that can be implemented in the short and medium-term – meaning they are prepared for any final verdict from ADUO.<\/p>\n

With customer teams like McLaren gradually learning how to optimise the German power unit, it is increasingly important for Ferrari to respond with engine upgrades of their own.<\/p>\n

McLaren were initially unhappy with their inability to tap into the potential of the Mercedes engine. As a result, they have worked intensely to overcome this knowledge gap.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, a more optimised engine will give the papaya team a better platform. In combination with MC40’s clearly solid aerodynamic base, Andrea Stella’s team can be expected to challenge.<\/p>\n

Crucially, because Mercedes power units are the benchmark, they will not be eligible for mid-season updates.<\/p>\n

In this respect, the regulations give Ferrari team a chance to level the playing field and assert themselves as genuine contenders as the season progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After two encouraging rounds in Australia and China, Ferrari’s SF-26 had a more difficult time in Japan. This is not to say the Italian team were uncompetitive – given that Leclerc overcame unfortunate Safety Car timing to secure a podium. Leclerc kept behind George Russell in his W17 for several laps to finish third, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":39558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2582,84,121],"class_list":["post-39550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2026-season","tag-ferrari","tag-mercedes"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39550"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39571,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39550\/revisions\/39571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}