Ferrari commits to F1 engine upgrade for Austria

Ferrari has committed to introducing its first ADUO-assisted Formula 1 engine upgrade at the Austrian Grand Prix, but has played down talk of it being an instant game-changer.

The team has long admitted that F1's ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) catch-up mechanism would offer it a good chance of closing the gap to runaway championship leader Mercedes.

And with the FIA having opened the door for Ferrari to have two upgrades this year - because it was deemed to be at least 4% behind the benchmark Red Bull - it has wasted little time in bringing its first development step already.

On Wednesday it was confirmed that Ferrari had signed off the introduction of the new power unit step for the Red Bull Ring which, while not offering a revolutionary leap in performance alone, will almost certainly make an impact on track and help its bid for another victory.

Ferrari's power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri is adamant however, that while there will be horsepower gains, it is not going to suddenly transform the pecking order at the front of F1.

"This update is not a major step, and it will not, on its own, change the competitive order," he said.

"What it does show is the attitude of the team and our technical partners: to push continuously and to make the most of every opportunity to improve our package.

"In a championship as competitive as this one, it is unrealistic to expect a single update to transform the overall picture, especially under the current homologation and development constraints.

"Performance is built progressively, not only through hardware changes, but also through how effectively you optimise the package race by race."

Gualtieri is clear though that the ADUO possibilities – which allow two upgrades this season and two next – does now give Ferrari a road map to plan both short and long-term developments that can be fed into the system when the right opportunity pops up.

"Major concept changes or architectural shifts during a Formula 1 season are uncommon, particularly when they affect installation and integration with the car and its operating conditions," he said.

"Since the beginning of the 2026 project, we have combined a continuous development approach with longer-term development programmes, to fully exploit all available opportunities to increase the performance of our power unit. These two streams run in parallel and often reinforce each other.

"The entire team at the factory is now working relentlessly to make the most of the additional opportunities provided by the ADUO mechanism, in full alignment with our intended development roadmap.

"The update we are bringing to Spielberg is a relatively minor one and it's the result of the work completed in recent weeks to transfer improvements from our development programme to the track.

"It epitomises key principles of our sport: continuous improvement, reacting quickly, and deploying gains at the earliest opportunity."

Ferrari's use of ADUO to introduce an upgrade comes after it was understood Audi made minor modifications to its power unit for the Barcelona Grand Prix to help with driveability.

Red Bull is still awaiting the outcome of a review by the FIA of the ADUO processes to discover if the governing body's verdict that it is F1's benchmark is correct, so means it will not be allowed to introduce any upgrades.