Ferrari thinks its 2026 F1 engine will be allowed upgrade boost

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur believes his team will be allowed to introduce an upgraded power unit this year as part of Formula 1’s regulations aimed at closing the field up.

The Maranello squad has emerged as Mercedes’ closest challenger so far in 2026, but is under no illusions that it has a deficit of around half a second.

Key to closing that gap down will be upgrades to car and engine, but matters are complicated by the fact that power units are homologated – so design specifications are already pretty much frozen.

However, as part of the 2026 rules set, an element known as the Additional Design and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) has been put in to help ensure that things stay close between manufacturers.

In simple terms, if a manufacturer is deemed to have a power unit that is more than 2% adrift of the benchmark after six races, then they will be allowed to make one upgrade later in the year and another for 2027.

If the gap is 4%, then they will be allowed to make two upgrades in-season and two more for the following campaign.

Looking at the qualifying picture from the Chinese Grand Prix, Ferrari’s gap to Mercedes seems to be very small.

Based on the qualifying times of Kimi Antonelli’s pole position of 1m32.064s and Lewis Hamilton’s best for Ferrari at 1m32.415s, the gap between them is just 0.381%.

However, the verdict of the FIA in terms of deciding if an engine falls into the ADUO window is not linked to laptime comparisons like this - it is down to solely what the power unit is delivering.

It has created an ICE Performance Index to measure each engine independently, although the specific metrics of what it is looking at are kept secret.

The likelihood is that measurements will be based on power and energy characteristics that are independent of the chassis.

This is why, despite Ferrari appearing to be close to Mercedes on track right now, Vasseur believes the door is open for his squad to be granted an update under ADUO because its power unit is lacking.

He thinks this will be a better opportunity for his outfit to catch up than the looming changes to compression ratio checks coming from June 1, which are aimed at clamping down on an area that Mercedes has exploited.

Vasseur said: “I'm not convinced that the new compression ratio rule will be a game changer, a huge game changer.

“It's more that you will have the ADUO at one stage, and that the addition of the ADUO will be an opportunity for us to close the gap.”

Ferrari v Mercedes strengths

Any improvements to Ferrari's power unit could be significant in helping it close down the deficit to Mercedes.

Analysis of the performance of the Ferrari and Mercedes cars over the opening two grands prix of the season has highlighted some key characteristic differences between them.

Ferrari has an advantage at the starts, and appears to hold an edge in corners – while Mercedes seems to be well clear when it comes to power and top speed.

So if Ferrari can unlock some more power to lose out less on the straights, then that could be significant in helping it make better use of its other core strengths.

As Vasseur explained after Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix: “I would prefer to be a bit faster. We know that we have a deficit of performance mainly in the straightline that we have to work on.”

But Vasseur is well aware that Ferrari should not just pin hopes of progress on getting the green light to improve its engine – for gains need to come from elsewhere too.

“I don't want to do the split [between chassis and power unit],” he said. “I want to push everywhere but we know that we have to improve on the ICE.

“But this will be for after the ADUO - on energy, on chassis, on aero. We are pushing like hell on every single area to close the gap.”

ADUO timing

In the current regulations, the first ADUO window opens up after six races, which would originally have been the Miami Grand Prix.

However, the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix means that the first six races will now not be completed until the Monaco Grand Prix in June.

The Race understands that the FIA wants to tweak the rules to keep things around the original timeline – although it is not known if this will mean laying down a specific date in the regulations or just tweaking the race number.

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack, whose Honda partner is desperate for upgrade opportunities to catch up, said the earlier modifications could be allowed, the happier his squad would be.

“Of course, it's clear the earlier we can make improvements, the better it is,” he said after the Chinese GP.