In Maranello, an air of anticipation surrounds not only the design of Project 676, the 2024 car set to revitalize the fortunes of the Prancing Horse in the upcoming Formula One championship but also because, just before the Christmas holidays, the first 6-cylinder turbo intended for the 2026 season made its debut on the test bench. This initial run signals a new concept for the future power unit without MGU-H and, crucially, with power distribution set at 50% between hybrid and endothermic propulsion.
While not breaking news, this information has only recently surfaced during the holiday season, perhaps because the checks and balances in Maranello have relaxed a bit. Although the Scuderia is closed for the “shutdown” imposed on F1 factories by the FIA and for the Christmas break, an atmosphere of confidence has taken hold in the Racing Department. This positivity isn’t solely due to the anticipation building around the 676, which will see the light on February 13, but also because the first engine for the new 2026 regulations has successfully completed its initial test at the test bench.
This won’t be the engine making its debut in the 2026 Formula One season with the new, smaller, and lighter cars. Still, it signals the end of the pure experimentation phase led by Enrico Gualtieri‘s group, and now the more complex phase of the project entrusted to Wolf Zimmermann begins.
As a reminder, the 2026 F1 regulations will enforce a different power distribution in the new power unit: hybrid electrical energy will be brought to 50%, with a significant reduction in the thermal part. The rules approved by the FIA have also made the six-cylinder much more restricted in material and solution choices, suggesting a more rudimentary unit in the future.
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The potential misconception here would be to think that, mechanically, we will witness a technological step backward. In reality, the experiences gained in recent years have opened up interesting development paths to pursue. Despite the tight regulations aiming for very similar, if not identical, engines, there are opportunities to differentiate choices and find research avenues useful for performance.
The keyword is not so much power as it is efficiency. The endothermic engine will be very different from what we’ll see racing in the next two years, given the disappearance of the MGU-H and the obligation to place the MGU-K inside the chassis for safety reasons. Thus, around the 6-cylinder, we will see a completely different packaging from what we have become accustomed to in this generation of hybrid engines.
Ferrari is paying close attention to the combustion phase because, in 2026, F1 will use zero-impact fuels for the first time, introducing e-fuels or bio-fuels. The Prancing Horse benefits from the ongoing collaboration with AvL, the research center in Graz, which has acquired significant expertise in hybrid engines.
Within the Racing Department, the “motorsport Christmas” has been celebrated with satisfaction, but those who have shared this information that was previously covered by secrecy, due to its strategic nature, added: “… but do you know which 6-cylinder ran on the test bench?” Almost as if to suggest that in this initial development phase, there will be several versions of the 2026 unit.
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