Ferrari’s attempts to recover performance from the SF-26 have increasingly exposed the extent to which its power-unit deficit is influencing the rest of the car. With Mercedes and Red Bull powertrains judged stronger in this season’s ADUO findings, the Scuderia has been forced to search for lap time through aerodynamic and mechanical compromises rather than relying on engine performance alone.
Charles Leclerc has already spoken about Ferrari’s engine difficulties, while reports have also pointed to a fuel-related issue that Shell is working to address. The underlying problem remains unchanged: Ferrari is behind its main rivals on the power-unit side, and closing that gap during the season has proved extremely difficult.
Ferrari wing set-up is being used to compensate for engine weakness
With limited scope to recover the deficit directly through the power unit, Ferrari has explored other areas of the SF-26 in an attempt to improve straight-line performance. One of the clearest examples has been the team’s approach to wing levels, with the Maranello engineers prepared to reduce aerodynamic load in an effort to compensate for what the engine cannot provide.
The Scuderia has also experimented with unconventional aerodynamic solutions, including the so-called Macarena wing, which was subsequently copied by Red Bull. These ideas underline how aggressively Ferrari has searched for performance outside the power unit while the central weakness remained difficult to eliminate.
That wider compromise has also become part of the discussion around where the SF-26 currently stands against Ferrari’s rivals, particularly on circuits where aerodynamic efficiency and power deployment play a major role.
Stefano Nicoli highlights opposite Ferrari and Mercedes philosophies
Speaking on the Terruzzi Racconta podcast, journalist Stefano Nicoli used comments made by Andrea Stella in Baku to explain the contrast between Ferrari and Mercedes. Andrea Stella’s assessment was that Mercedes had optimised its car around the characteristics of its power unit from the beginning, recognising that the engine would be one of the central elements of the new regulations.
According to that interpretation, Mercedes started with a clear understanding of what it had beneath the engine cover and designed the rest of the package to exploit those strengths. The result is a car whose chassis, aerodynamic concept and power unit work around the same underlying characteristics.
Stefano Nicoli argued that Ferrari has effectively faced the reverse situation. In his view, the central element of the regulations — the power unit — has not reached the required level, forcing the team to compensate elsewhere. That has meant reducing wing levels, stiffening the rear suspension and looking for performance through other parts of the package.
The problem is that those measures can only recover part of the lost performance. After 15 Grands Prix, Stefano Nicoli considered the scale of the situation particularly concerning because the compromises have not been enough to eliminate the fundamental deficit.
SF-26 compromises cannot fully erase the power-unit gap
Reducing aerodynamic load can improve straight-line speed, but it also changes the behaviour of the car through the corners. Similarly, altering the mechanical platform can help Ferrari pursue a particular aerodynamic objective, but it does not create the horsepower that is missing relative to the strongest engines.
That explains why Ferrari’s set-up choices have become such an important indicator of the wider technical problem. The team is not simply choosing low-downforce configurations because they are always optimal for the circuit. In some situations, those choices are part of a broader attempt to compensate for a power-unit weakness elsewhere in the package.
The issue has become one of the key themes of Ferrari’s 2026 technical picture, alongside the wider development of the SF-26 and the search for a more competitive balance against Mercedes and Red Bull.
Ferrari already looking towards a new power unit for 2027
Fred Vasseur has not abandoned the development of the current car and remains prepared to introduce further upgrades during the remainder of 2026. At the same time, Ferrari is already looking towards 2027, when the team plans to introduce an entirely new power unit.
The Ferrari team principal has explained that even a relatively small engine improvement can make a meaningful difference because the gaps behind the leading cars are often measured in hundredths of a second. In that context, gaining only a few horsepower can still translate into a noticeable improvement in grid position.
Fred Vasseur therefore sees the new 2027 engine as an important opportunity to close the gap as quickly as possible. The long-term project will form part of Ferrari’s broader technical transition towards next season, alongside other areas of the car already being reconsidered as part of the 2027 Ferrari technical programme.
Ferrari needs to remove the need for compensation
The central challenge is straightforward. Ferrari can continue extracting performance from wings, suspension settings and aerodynamic detail, but those solutions cannot completely replace what is missing from the power unit.
The SF-26 has therefore become a car that must often compensate for one weakness by compromising another area. Mercedes, by contrast, has been able to build its package around a power unit whose characteristics were understood and exploited from the beginning.
For Ferrari, the objective is now twofold: continue improving the SF-26 where possible during the remainder of 2026, while ensuring the new 2027 power unit allows the next car to be designed around strength rather than around the need to disguise a deficit.
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