Ferrari’s ADUO-2 Power Unit has produced an encouraging first indication at Monza, with telemetry from Haas suggesting that the updated specification may provide significantly more usable energy towards the end of the lap. Alongside Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, Oliver Bearman was the only other driver using the upgraded engine, creating a valuable direct comparison with team-mate Esteban Ocon and his older specification.
The differences seen on Friday are not yet definitive, as qualifying will provide the first opportunity to compare the Power Units in more representative maximum-performance conditions. However, the initial data appears consistent with one of the central objectives behind Ferrari’s updated SF-26 Power Unit: improving overall efficiency and ensuring that more energy remains available deeper into the lap.
Haas runs Ferrari ADUO-2 on only one car at Monza
The fact that Haas has only one Ferrari ADUO-2 engine available this weekend, fitted to Oliver Bearman’s car, creates an unusually useful opportunity to look for differences between the Power Unit before and after the update. Monza is particularly well suited to this type of analysis because of its limited number of corners, long straights and the importance of engine and hybrid performance to overall lap time.
We therefore compared Charles Leclerc’s best lap of the day, used as a useful Ferrari reference, with the best laps from Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon. The differences that emerged were substantial and particularly noticeable in specific sections of the lap.
The comparison is especially relevant because Ferrari’s ADUO-2 programme has not been focused solely on peak output. The Scuderia has also worked extensively on the efficiency of the complete system, including developments around the ADUO-2 turbo and compressor.
Ferrari ADUO-2 difference emerges in second half of Monza lap
Before examining the data more closely, one important caveat is necessary: none of the three drivers analysed was using the Power Unit in a full-performance mode. Qualifying should provide a much more definitive answer, but the differences on Friday were large enough to justify an initial assessment.
For almost the entire first half of the lap, the performance of the three cars was remarkably similar. Oliver Bearman was actually the fastest of the three at the first intermediate point, while Esteban Ocon was only around 0.15 seconds behind. Much of that deficit was accumulated through the opening chicane rather than on the straights.
Charles Leclerc also carried out an obvious lift-and-coast phase under braking for the Variante della Roggia, something the two Haas drivers did not replicate. The first major difference only appeared after the second Lesmo, on the downhill straight towards Ascari.
At that point, Esteban Ocon’s speed plateaued at around 10 km/h below Oliver Bearman’s and 14 km/h below Charles Leclerc’s. Through Ascari itself, both Haas cars were more than 15 km/h slower than the Ferrari, before the comparison became even more revealing on the run towards the Parabolica.
Oliver Bearman gains strongly on the straight towards Parabolica
On the straight after Ascari, Oliver Bearman was actually faster than Charles Leclerc and, according to our calculations, gained approximately 0.15 seconds on the Monegasque driver. That is particularly interesting because Ferrari was seen deploying all the electrical energy it had available in this section, allowing Charles Leclerc to recover his entire deficit to Mercedes.
Despite starting the acceleration phase around 16 km/h slower than Charles Leclerc at the exit of Ascari, Oliver Bearman rapidly reached 321 km/h. That was 5 km/h faster than Charles Leclerc and as much as 9 km/h faster than Esteban Ocon.
The speed difference between Oliver Bearman and Charles Leclerc then remained relatively stable until the braking zone, at around 4 km/h, while the gap to Esteban Ocon increased to approximately 13 km/h. A very similar pattern could be seen after the Parabolica on the acceleration towards the finish line.
The findings also fit with Friday’s broader picture of Ferrari’s energy deployment at Monza, where managing the available electrical power over the full lap has emerged as a major performance factor.
Energy and efficiency could be the real Ferrari ADUO-2 gain
Engine maps, tyre compounds, fuel loads and other variables all have to be considered, but the initial impression is relatively clear. Esteban Ocon, running the older engine specification, appears to become significantly short of energy after the first half of the lap. As a result, his speed has to plateau at a much lower level than the fastest cars, with signs of both clipping and super-clipping.
By contrast, Oliver Bearman and Charles Leclerc, both using the ADUO-2 Power Unit, show a much more similar performance profile and appear to have considerably more energy available to deploy through the final part of the lap.
This is significant because one of Ferrari’s main areas of work has been the overall efficiency of the Power Unit rather than simply extracting additional peak power. Recovering energy and then using it more efficiently means having a greater amount available as the car approaches the end of the lap.
That is precisely the section in which Ferrari has frequently struggled relative to its rivals. In this comparison, Esteban Ocon appears to suffer the same type of performance drop, while Oliver Bearman is able to continue deploying energy much more effectively.
Telemetry also points to a difference in available torque
Another indirect indication comes from what appears to be a higher level of available torque. Telemetry shows similar gearshift points for the three drivers, despite Esteban Ocon completing his acceleration phases at speeds around 10 km/h lower.
The French driver’s engine is therefore simply operating at a lower rotational speed, by approximately 400 rpm compared with Charles Leclerc and Oliver Bearman. This supports the impression of a Power Unit that does not have the same power and energy available to continue accelerating and raising the engine speed in the way the updated units can.
This does not necessarily mean that the entire difference can be attributed directly to ADUO-2. Ferrari’s Monza update has been associated with more modest outright combustion-engine gains than some earlier estimates, with the latest assessment putting the ADUO-2 power increase at around 5–6 horsepower. The more interesting advantage may therefore be how efficiently the complete system delivers and manages its available energy.
Qualifying will provide the first real ADUO-2 test
It is difficult to believe that the full gap seen between the two Haas drivers represents the true advantage of Ferrari’s ADUO-2 update. Esteban Ocon lost around nine tenths to Oliver Bearman across the second and third sectors alone, meaning other variables are almost certainly contributing to the size of the difference.
Nevertheless, the underlying trend appears credible. The main improvement from the Ferrari Power Unit update may become visible through greater energy availability in the second half of the lap, even if the actual advantage proves smaller than the one recorded during Friday’s running.
Qualifying will provide the first genuine test. With the Power Units pushed considerably harder, there will be much less scope to disguise their potential, allowing a more precise assessment of one of Ferrari’s most important engine developments of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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