Ferrari’s 2026 engine deficit has become one of the defining weaknesses of its Formula 1 title challenge, bringing renewed attention to two major technical departures that occurred while the new-generation power unit was still being developed. Wolf Zimmermann, the Scuderia’s internal combustion engine chief, and his deputy Lars Schmidt both left for Audi after their moves emerged in September 2025.
The timing is significant because Ferrari have struggled to extract the gains expected from their 2026 power unit upgrades. While the SF-26 was believed to possess the strongest cornering performance on the grid during the first half of the campaign, its deficit on the straights has repeatedly compromised that advantage and contributed to Mercedes retaining the upper hand.
Ferrari’s 2026 engine deficit followed major technical departures
Ferrari’s current situation follows a broader period of disruption across its technical departments. The team had already experienced a significant departure in July 2024 when technical director Enrico Cardile left with immediate effect ahead of his move to Aston Martin.
Cardile had already established the concept behind the SF-25, but departed before he could oversee the project through to completion. An awkward transitional period followed, during which team principal Fred Vasseur temporarily assumed the technical director responsibilities himself.
Loic Serra eventually arrived from Mercedes in October 2024, but Ferrari were unable to reverse their trajectory in time. The Scuderia subsequently finished fourth in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship and completed the season without a Grand Prix victory.
A year after Cardile’s departure, another important change was taking place within the power unit organisation. It emerged in September 2025 that Zimmermann and Schmidt were heading to Audi. Overall power unit chief Enrico Gualtieri remained at Maranello, but Ferrari had lost two senior engineers from beneath him.
Ferrari’s power unit upgrades have produced limited gains
The 2026 Formula 1 engine had already been under development for several years when those departures occurred, meaning Zimmermann and Schmidt had been involved during a substantial part of the programme. However, further development remained crucial once Ferrari discovered the scale of its initial deficit.
After the first version of the power unit was judged to be at least four per cent behind, Ferrari received the opportunity to introduce two upgrades. Expectations surrounding those interventions were significant, but the combined improvement from the ADUO tokens is believed to have amounted to only around five horsepower.
That return has been particularly costly because the chassis itself appeared highly competitive. During the first half of 2026, Ferrari were believed to have the strongest car through the corners, leaving the power unit as the major weakness preventing the overall package from consistently matching Mercedes.
The problem has been especially visible on circuits where straight-line performance and energy deployment carry greater importance. That makes the energy demands facing Ferrari in Baku particularly relevant as the team continues trying to minimise its deficit.
Recorded straight-line performance can also be examined through the F1 Top Speed Comparison, which provides additional context for the differences between Ferrari and its rivals across Formula 1 weekends.
Lewis Hamilton identified a major straight-line loss to Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton had already highlighted the severity of the problem in July. The seven-time world champion indicated that Ferrari were losing approximately four tenths of a second to Mercedes on the straights alone, illustrating how difficult it was for the SF-26’s cornering strength to compensate for the disadvantage elsewhere around a lap.
That imbalance has played an important role in Ferrari’s championship campaign. A car capable of performing strongly through the corners still has to recover time lost through acceleration and on the straights, particularly against a Mercedes package that has established itself at the front of the 2026 field.
Ferrari have attempted to reduce that weakness through development, but the limited gain attributed to the two ADUO upgrades has prevented the Scuderia from closing the gap as much as anticipated. The situation has consequently raised questions over how much the earlier disruption inside the engine department affected the programme.
How much did the Zimmermann and Schmidt exits affect Ferrari?
The precise impact of Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt leaving Ferrari can only be known internally. The 2026 power unit was already at an advanced stage by the time their moves became known, so their departures cannot simply be treated as the sole explanation for the engine’s current shortcomings.
Nevertheless, losing the head of internal combustion engine development and his deputy represented substantial upheaval at an important stage of a major new Formula 1 power unit programme. Given the subsequent difficulty Ferrari have experienced in extracting the expected performance from their upgrades, the timing of those exits has become increasingly significant.
The two departures also received relatively little attention compared with Ferrari’s other technical changes, despite the seniority of both engineers and the importance of the engine department under the new regulations.
The wider competitive picture has left the Maranello team facing a difficult development challenge, with questions also surrounding how much more can be extracted from the SF-26. Ferrari’s development situation heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix therefore extends beyond the immediate task of finding additional chassis performance.
Ferrari technical changes are continuing towards 2027
The movement within Ferrari’s power unit department has not ended. Heading towards 2027, the team’s leading energy recovery specialist is also leaving, creating another change in an area where the Scuderia has displayed an evident battery-related deficit.
That departure could ultimately create an opportunity for Ferrari to reorganise and improve the department, but any benefit would require time to materialise. With Formula 1 development cycles extending well beyond a single race or season, personnel changes do not necessarily produce an immediate performance response.
Ferrari are also targeting a former Mercedes engine designer as part of their efforts to strengthen the operation. However, development of the 2027 power unit is already expected to be approaching its final stages, potentially limiting how much influence a new arrival could exert on the original design.
The challenge for Ferrari is therefore no longer simply to understand why its 2026 power unit fell short of expectations. The Scuderia must also manage continued personnel changes while ensuring the weaknesses that have compromised the SF-26 do not carry into its next engine project.
Zimmermann and Schmidt’s departures cannot provide a definitive explanation for Ferrari’s current deficit, but their exits occurred at a sensitive point in the programme. With the engine subsequently emerging as one of the main factors limiting an otherwise highly competitive package, the consequences of that technical upheaval have become increasingly difficult to overlook.
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