Ferrari working on compression ratio to unlock more power and close Mercedes gap. Ferrari is working on increasing its engine’s compression ratio .

With a clear power deficit compared to Mercedes, Ferrari is now focusing on its engine development in an effort to close the gap as quickly as possible.

The topic of the Mercedes engine’s compression ratio has been under discussion for several months, with Ferrari among the first teams to call for clarification on the matter. The FIA eventually decided to partially accept the requests from rival engine manufacturers, agreeing to introduce hot testing procedures starting from the month of June.

In the meantime, however, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli can rely on a W17 that enjoys a significant advantage in terms of power, allowing them to dominate especially in qualifying sessions. Looking at the telemetry data, it is clear that most of the gap to Ferrari is concentrated along the straights.

Ferrari working on its engine at Maranello

For this reason, the engineers in Maranello are working intensively to find a solution that would allow Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to fight their rivals across all sessions. The SF-26 appears to have an excellent foundation from both a chassis and aerodynamic perspective, but it suffers too much from the difference in top speed compared to the W17.

In particular, according to reports from AutoRacer, Ferrari’s technical staff is searching for a way to stabilize the compression ratio at a higher level than the current one. Achieving this would unlock greater power, with the added benefit of reduced degradation.

At the same time, development work continues on next year’s power unit, as the current design used on the SF-26 is considered too conventional to allow significant future upgrades.

The success of the SF-26 therefore hinges on this technical breakthrough. Ferrari knows that to beat Mercedes, they must not only match them in the corners but also stand their ground on the long straights of the upcoming circuits. The development race in Maranello is at full throttle to ensure Leclerc and Hamilton have the tools they need to bring the fight to Russell and Antonelli.