Ferrari could potentially give away between two and three tenths of a second per lap in qualifying at Monza if Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc do not cooperate with slipstream tactics. That possibility could become especially significant at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix, where the Scuderia is preparing to introduce its evolved ADUO-2 power unit and is aiming to maximise every available performance gain in front of the Tifosi.
Formula 1 has officially entered the second half of the 2026 season, bringing the opening half of the championship to a close and giving teams an opportunity to assess the work completed so far. Ferrari can view its campaign as a glass half full: the Maranello team has returned to winning ways and sits second in the Constructors’ Championship, while recent weekends have demonstrated that Mercedes is beatable and that challenging for major objectives is no longer an unrealistic ambition.
Ferrari targets Monza with ADUO-2 power unit upgrade
Victories in Spain and Great Britain transformed Ferrari’s season and also showed that the competition facing Mercedes remains intense. McLaren has also returned to stronger form, adding another rival alongside the Scuderia in the attempt to put pressure on Toto Wolff’s team during the second half of the campaign.
Ferrari intends to reinforce that challenge at Monza with the debut of its evolved ADUO-2 power unit. Maranello’s engine department has worked relentlessly towards the project, meeting its targets ahead of final approval of a specification that, as has been known for some time, will feature a new turbocharger.
The evolved 067/6 should, at least on paper, allow Ferrari to recover part of the deficit separating it from the strongest power units. According to FIA measurements, Red Bull and Mercedes currently provide the benchmark in this area. The most optimistic estimates suggest that ADUO-2 could deliver approximately 10 to 15 additional horsepower.
The overall refinement is also expected to help Ferrari maintain power more effectively and provide stronger performance further along the straights. That will be particularly important at Monza, where straight-line performance plays a central role and where the Scuderia will homologate its fourth power unit of the 2026 season.
Despite some of the excitement surrounding the development, the atmosphere inside the factory is understood to be more measured. There is cautious optimism mixed with hope rather than the overwhelming enthusiasm that some interpretations of the upgrade have suggested. Ferrari’s wider ADUO-2 development programme for Monza nevertheless represents one of the team’s most important technical steps of the second half of the season.
Ferrari could also introduce a special Monza rear wing
There may be further developments coming from Ferrari’s racing department. Nothing has been confirmed, but within the constraints of the budget cap it cannot be ruled out that the SF-26 could receive a new rear wing designed specifically for the Italian Grand Prix.
Such a specification would be intended to reduce drag, maximise speed and improve the car’s overall aerodynamic efficiency around Monza. It would effectively give Ferrari another tool with which to extract everything possible from the SF-26 in front of its home supporters, while also helping to showcase the benefits of the evolved power unit. A possible new Ferrari rear wing for Monza would therefore complement the power unit work rather than replace it.
Unlike ADUO-1, however, the ADUO-2 development will not benefit from the work of a strategic partner such as Shell. Ferrari’s engine department has instead carried out the work required to reach the objectives established for the evolved specification.
The Monza package would follow the significant aerodynamic work already carried out on the SF-26. Ferrari introduced another development step at Zandvoort, including changes around the floor and rear wing, as part of its broader attempt to improve the car during the second half of the campaign. The details of that package and its objectives are covered in our analysis of Ferrari’s Zandvoort SF-26 upgrades.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc tensions could matter at Monza
However, Ferrari’s chances of achieving a strong result at Monza may depend on more than technical development. The team will also need to manage the tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc that emerged during the Dutch Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton accused the pit wall of effectively using him as a guinea pig for Charles Leclerc’s strategy and believed he had lost time while running behind the Monegasque driver. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, complained that the seven-time world champion had defended too aggressively against him.
The episode highlighted a potentially delicate situation between two drivers who appear reluctant to sacrifice their own race for the benefit of the other. Ferrari’s management of the pair at Zandvoort has already raised questions, with the team left with an important team-orders lesson after the Dutch Grand Prix.
Why the Monza tow could be worth two to three tenths
The same dynamic could become relevant in qualifying at Monza. Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc may be willing to provide a slipstream for the other, even though the tow can be particularly valuable around a circuit dominated by long straights.
Charles Leclerc has demonstrated that approach through his actions, while Lewis Hamilton was explicit about his position during the previous season. Speaking at Monza, the British driver said: “The tow? It’s something I’ve never done.”
Between those words and the way the two drivers have approached their on-track battles, there appear to be all the ingredients for Ferrari to avoid organising a coordinated slipstream strategy in Italy. If that happens, the potential cost is estimated at between two and three tenths of a second per lap in qualifying.
That would be a significant amount of time to surrender at a circuit that, on paper, is not ideally suited to the SF-26. Running in another car’s aerodynamic wake on the straights can be fundamental at Monza, and the effect becomes particularly valuable when the margins in qualifying are extremely small.
The dilemma therefore creates an interesting contrast for Ferrari. Maranello has worked intensively to extract additional horsepower from ADUO-2 and may even prepare a lower-drag rear-wing specification specifically for the Italian Grand Prix, yet part of that potential gain could effectively be surrendered if Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are unwilling to cooperate with a tow strategy.
For a team still fighting for every available objective and attempting to restore a winning mentality, managing that situation could be just as important as the technical developments themselves. Monza will demand maximum performance from the SF-26, but Ferrari may also need complete conviction when deciding how its two drivers should work together during one of the most important qualifying sessions of its season.
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