Does the Ferrari SF-26 really have an engine problem? A technical analysis carried out with engineer Riccardo Romanelli suggests the answer may be more complicated. While much of the discussion following the Madrid Grand Prix has focused on the Ferrari Power Unit, the SF-26’s most important limitation could instead lie in the way it manages and deploys electrical energy around a lap.
Ferrari’s 2026 car continues to divide fans and Formula 1 observers. After Madrid, many pointed to the Power Unit as the main explanation for the gap to Mercedes and McLaren. However, a deeper look at the season’s data and the behaviour of the SF-26 leads to a different conclusion: the engine itself may not be Ferrari’s biggest problem.
Ferrari SF-26 problem goes beyond the Power Unit
In recent Grands Prix, seeing a Mercedes-powered car near the front in both qualifying and the race has become increasingly common. That trend has fuelled the debate over whether Ferrari’s Power Unit is fundamentally inferior.
According to Riccardo Romanelli, however, concentrating exclusively on the internal combustion engine risks producing an incomplete picture. The amount of additional performance that can now be extracted from the combustion side is limited to only a few horsepower. A much more significant difference comes from how effectively each car manages and distributes electrical energy during the lap.
In other words, the competitiveness of the SF-26 may depend far more heavily on energy management than on outright combustion-engine power. That distinction is particularly important under the 2026 regulations and is also central to Ferrari’s energy-deployment challenge under Straight Mode.
Energy deployment is a key factor in Formula 1 2026
The 2026 Formula 1 cars rely on their electrical component much more heavily than previous generations. As a result, deployment — the way stored electrical energy is released around the lap — can completely alter a car’s performance profile.
A car capable of maintaining electrical assistance all the way to the braking point can continue accelerating strongly through the final part of a straight. If the available electrical energy runs out too early, however, the driver suddenly loses performance at precisely the point where maximum acceleration is most valuable.
According to Romanelli, this is one of the areas currently separating Ferrari from Mercedes. The issue is therefore not simply how much power the engine can produce, but how effectively the complete Power Unit can make its available energy last across the lap.
Straight-line performance can also be examined through the F1 Top Speed Comparison, which provides additional context when comparing how effectively different cars carry speed through the acceleration zones.
Why the Ferrari SF-26 suffers more in qualifying
The SF-26 has repeatedly shown a different performance profile in qualifying compared with the race. Ferrari often struggles to extract the final tenth of a second over one flying lap, while its race pace can be much more competitive, particularly during longer stints.
The Madrid Grand Prix reinforced that pattern. Ferrari was able to maintain very consistent pace on used tyres, suggesting that some of the chronic issues that affected the team in previous seasons may have been addressed. The difficulty remains extracting the maximum potential from the car over a single qualifying lap.
That contrast between Saturday and Sunday was also evident in the wider Spanish Grand Prix technical analysis from Madring, where race pace was stronger than Ferrari’s ultimate qualifying performance suggested.
Madrid exposed another problem beyond Ferrari
The Madrid race analysis does not concern Ferrari alone. According to Romanelli, the new circuit has characteristics that make overtaking extremely difficult, with a continuous sequence of medium-speed corners, braking zones that are too short and very few genuine opportunities to attack another car.
The controversial management of the Virtual Safety Car also became part of the discussion, with many believing that its timing significantly altered the dynamics of the race.
Those characteristics made track position particularly important and made it harder for cars to demonstrate their underlying race pace through overtaking. For Ferrari, that further highlighted the cost of failing to maximise performance in qualifying.
Can Ferrari still improve the SF-26?
The season is not yet over, and Ferrari has been one of the teams to introduce numerous updates during the year. The SF-26 project has evolved considerably since the beginning of the championship, but the closing stages of the campaign will also be influenced by reliability, Power Unit component management and any penalties associated with replacements.
The next Grands Prix will therefore be important in showing whether the Maranello team can reduce the gap to its rivals. Ferrari has also made clear that continued work on the current car remains relevant, with the team believing that further SF-26 development can also contribute to its 2027 project.
The technical analysis ultimately leads to an important distinction. Talking simply about a “Ferrari engine” problem risks being too reductive. The behaviour of the SF-26 appears to depend heavily on the overall management of electrical energy, an area that has become central to performance in the current generation of Formula 1 cars.
The remaining question is whether Ferrari can overcome that limitation during the final races of the season and unlock more of the SF-26’s potential over a single lap.
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