Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed that the Maranello team had known for years that its 2026 Formula 1 power unit was behind those of its rivals, raising questions about the origins of the engine deficit and the decisions that shaped the SF-26 project. His latest comments, made in an interview with The Race before the Mexico City Grand Prix, appear to offer a different perspective from the explanation he provided earlier in the season, while also highlighting a complicated development dilemma ahead of 2027.
The admission has renewed debate over responsibility for Ferrari’s power-unit difficulties. With the team having acknowledged its performance disadvantage throughout 2026, attention is now turning towards how the situation developed, whether earlier management decisions played a part and how the Scuderia intends to allocate its limited resources between further upgrades and next year’s engine.
Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari engine admission raises questions over earlier decisions
When Fred Vasseur discussed the evident difficulties affecting Ferrari’s power unit last July, he appeared to suggest that the team’s performance characteristics were partly the consequence of a deliberate strategic decision.
Speaking to Corriere della Sera, the Ferrari team principal explained that Maranello had chosen to place greater emphasis on the chassis and the car’s driveability rather than directing the same level of attention towards the engine.
“We made specific choices regarding the chassis and the car’s driveability, pushing more in that direction than on the engine,” Fred Vasseur explained.
He then defended the approach with a particularly firm statement: “I believe it was the right decision.”
Those remarks appeared to leave little room for interpretation. Ferrari had followed a specific technical direction during the design and development of the SF-26, and its team principal was publicly standing by that decision.
The distinction between chassis performance and power-unit development has remained central to Ferrari’s 2026 campaign. While the Italian team has demonstrated encouraging characteristics in certain areas, the SF-26’s engine deficit compared with Mercedes has repeatedly emerged as an important limitation.
However, approximately four months after his earlier comments, Fred Vasseur appears to have presented a different explanation for the situation.
Ferrari knew its 2026 power unit was behind rivals for years
In an interview with The Race conducted before the Mexico City Grand Prix, Fred Vasseur acknowledged that Ferrari had been aware of its power-unit disadvantage well before the beginning of the 2026 season.
“We knew it was going to be difficult on the engine side. We had known for years that we were behind our rivals. And that the first year would be extremely difficult. But I think it was a good challenge, a good exercise, and I’m really pleased with the determination within the team.”
The statement adds another dimension to the debate surrounding Ferrari’s technical difficulties.
In July, the French manager had defended a deliberate choice to prioritise the chassis and driveability. His more recent comments suggest that the team had also been dealing with a recognised power-unit disadvantage for several years.
These explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but the difference in emphasis raises questions about when Ferrari identified the problem and how much freedom the team had to change its development direction before the new regulations came into effect.
The issue is particularly significant because Ferrari’s power-unit weakness has remained a major concern despite the introduction of updates during the season. The Scuderia has already explored improvements through the ADUO framework, with Charles Leclerc acknowledging progress from the ADUO-2 upgrade while highlighting the remaining deficit at Monza.
Were Ferrari’s engine problems inherited from previous management?
One interpretation of Fred Vasseur’s comments concerns the decisions made before he became Ferrari team principal.
As frequently happens in politics, leaders who inherit difficult circumstances sometimes point towards the decisions of their predecessors when explaining problems that continue during their own tenure, even several years after taking office.
The Ferrari situation could be viewed through a similar lens, particularly given the long development cycle associated with the 2026 Formula 1 power units.
The Race, which interviewed Fred Vasseur, also highlighted the importance of decisions made before the French manager’s arrival at Maranello. Journalist Edd Straw wrote that “the long development cycle of the new power units under budget-cap restrictions began in 2023, based on decisions made before his arrival”.
The journalist also suggested that the full impact of Fred Vasseur’s work on Ferrari’s engine programme could only be assessed “once the completely wrong direction has been corrected”.
Fred Vasseur officially became Ferrari team principal on 9 January 2023. The timing of his appointment is therefore relevant when considering the development process that produced the team’s 2026 power unit.
From this perspective, the current engine difficulties could be connected to strategic decisions made before the French manager assumed responsibility for the team, meaning the full effects of his leadership on the power-unit programme may not yet be visible.
However, the question of whether Ferrari can correct its technical direction in time for 2027 remains open.
Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari’s ADUO dilemma and 2027 engine development
When The Race asked about Ferrari’s prospects of improving its engine for 2027, Fred Vasseur provided an answer that highlighted the complexity of the choices facing the team without revealing its precise development strategy.
“I’m not going to reveal the situation, but it’s true that the ADUO mechanism is a little perverse,” the Ferrari team principal explained.
“In April or May, we knew we had the ADUO, but the question was: do we want to have a new engine in June, in September, and work on 2027? Or should we make some sacrifices because, with the budget cap, you cannot develop three things in parallel? Is it better to push as hard as possible to obtain ADUO2 at Monza, for example, while sacrificing a little of 2027?”
His explanation reveals the difficult balance between improving the existing power unit and committing resources to the following season.
Under the ADUO framework, manufacturers have opportunities to address performance deficits, but taking advantage of those opportunities still requires development resources. Ferrari must therefore consider the benefits of introducing improvements during the current championship against the potential consequences for its longer-term programme.
The budget cap adds another constraint. As Fred Vasseur indicated, the team cannot pursue several major development objectives simultaneously without considering the resources available.
That dilemma is particularly relevant to Ferrari’s efforts to close the gap to its competitors. The Scuderia’s ongoing power-unit deficit and the differing assessments within Ferrari have already highlighted how important the engine has become to the team’s wider competitiveness.
Did Ferrari sacrifice part of its 2027 development to obtain ADUO-2 at Monza?
The most intriguing aspect of Fred Vasseur’s explanation concerns the timing of Ferrari’s second ADUO development opportunity.
During his interview, the Ferrari team principal presented the possibility of pushing to obtain ADUO-2 at Monza while accepting some compromise in the work being carried out for 2027.
That second development opportunity did indeed arrive in time for the Italian Grand Prix, where Ferrari introduced its ADUO-2 power-unit upgrade. This coincidence raises an important question: was Fred Vasseur indirectly suggesting that Ferrari had already chosen to sacrifice some of its 2027 development programme in order to pursue improvements during 2026?
His remarks do not provide a definitive answer. The French manager explicitly declined to disclose Ferrari’s precise situation, leaving room for interpretation about the decisions taken behind the scenes. What emerges clearly is the difficult strategic position facing Maranello. Ferrari entered the 2026 season with a power-unit disadvantage that its team principal says had been recognised years earlier. Addressing that weakness during the championship required development decisions that also had potential implications for the following season.
The unresolved question is whether the Scuderia’s pursuit of ADUO improvements during 2026 has affected the resources available for its 2027 engine project. With Fred Vasseur choosing not to reveal the team’s exact approach, the significance of those decisions may only become clear when Ferrari’s next power unit demonstrates its competitiveness on the circuit.
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