Ferrari’s overnight turnaround: How software and setup tweaks put Charles Leclerc on the front row. Ferrari SF-26: the setup and power unit changes that transformed Austrian GP qualifying.

F1 | Ferrari: how the team found the extra performance to put Charles Leclerc on the front row in Austria

Ferrari was not sandbagging during Friday’s free practice sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Scuderia simply got the setup of the SF-26 wrong. For qualifying, however, the team revised the electric energy deployment strategy and adopted a much more aggressive setup, unlocking a level of performance that could prove even more effective over race distance.

Ferrari ended the opening day of the Austrian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton in fifth place, 0.597 seconds behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Charles Leclerc finished eighth, 0.841 seconds off the pace. On a circuit as short as the Red Bull Ring, where a lap takes little more than 66 seconds, those margins were enormous.

Following Lewis Hamilton’s dominant victory in Barcelona, it was surprising to see the Scuderia struggling so much in Spielberg, especially considering Ferrari had introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade package at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that had worked exactly as intended.

Revised power unit strategy unlocked Ferrari’s true potential

So what changed?

Ferrari introduced the updated 067/6 power unit featuring the ADUO modifications, the concessions approved by the FIA to help manufacturers reduce the power gap to the benchmark engine currently produced by Red Bull Powertrains Ford.

The Maranello team was keen to emphasize that the changes introduced to the 067/6 were relatively minor. Estimates suggested that the update would recover around 20% of the reported 25-plus horsepower deficit to Max Verstappen’s engine, meaning an improvement of approximately five horsepower. Combined with Shell’s new fuel specification—homologated as PR10818 UGL-104L/1, replacing the previously used PR10795 UGL-103L/2 that debuted in Barcelona—the gains were not expected to be immediately noticeable.

In reality, Ferrari’s engineers had initially opted for a very conservative engine mapping, preventing the theoretical advantages of the updated power unit from becoming fully visible. More importantly, the energy management strategy proved inefficient. The deployment of electrical power from the MGU-K had been concentrated in the opening sector of the lap, but after analysing the data and comparing Ferrari’s performance with its rivals, the engineers concluded that strengthening energy deployment through Sector 2 would deliver a greater overall benefit.

That adjustment produced an immediate improvement. Simulator work clearly highlighted the gains available by optimizing the energy release, paving the way for substantial setup changes that made the SF-26 far more competitive through the demanding elevation changes of the Red Bull Ring.

Overnight work transformed Ferrari’s qualifying performance

The result was a completely different picture on Saturday. Charles Leclerc secured a front-row start alongside George Russell, finishing just 0.236 seconds behind the Mercedes driver, while Lewis Hamilton lined up only a fraction further back in the second Ferrari SF-26.

Ferrari successfully turned around a weekend that initially appeared to be heading in the wrong direction. By correcting the setup, improving the energy deployment strategy and making the most of the available package, the Scuderia recovered the competitiveness that had been missing throughout Friday’s sessions.

Although Ferrari was unable to gather particularly valuable long-run data during practice, the team believes the race pace will be significantly stronger than what was seen during the disappointing FP2 simulations, where the gap to Mercedes over long runs appeared even greater than the difference shown on a single qualifying lap.

Sunday’s race should present a different scenario, especially because the forecast rise in temperatures is expected to play in Ferrari’s favour. The SF-26 has been fitted with a more open bodywork configuration to improve cooling for both the power unit and the braking system, compensating for the thinner air encountered at the Red Bull Ring’s altitude of approximately 700 metres above sea level.

On paper, the 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix still appears to favour the Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, Ferrari established itself as the clear second-fastest team in qualifying, finishing ahead of both Red Bull and McLaren.

History has often shown that Ferrari tends to gain additional competitiveness over race distance compared to qualifying. If that trend continues once again, tyre management could become the decisive factor in what promises to be another fascinating chapter of the Austrian Grand Prix.