Ferrari power unit engineer Thierry Baritaud has left the team at a particularly sensitive stage of its 2026 Formula 1 development programme, according to Italian journalist Leo Turrini. The departure comes with Ferrari struggling to match Mercedes on the power unit side despite the SF-26 chassis emerging as one of the strongest of the new regulations era.
Baritaud specialised in energy recovery and held responsibility for Ferrari’s entire ERS department, including development of the MGU-K and energy store. His exit therefore comes at a time when electrical-energy recovery and deployment have become major performance differentiators under the 2026 regulations.
Turrini reported on his Profondo Rosso blog that the French engineer has now left his position. Enrico Gualtieri, who oversees Ferrari’s Formula 1 power unit operation as a whole, is expected to assume Baritaud’s responsibilities on an interim basis.
Ferrari power unit engineer departure adds to recent technical changes
Baritaud’s exit is the latest significant change within Ferrari’s engine department. Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt, previously regarded as the two leading engineers in the operation, both left for Audi last year after being recruited by former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto.
The changes have not been confined to the power unit division. Ferrari has also undergone restructuring on the chassis side, with Loic Serra taking over as technical director following Enrico Cardile’s move to Aston Martin.
For much of the 2026 season, the SF-26 chassis has been considered a reference point in the field, although McLaren’s recent upgrades have increasingly challenged that position. Ferrari’s larger problem has instead been extracting enough performance from its power unit to consistently compete with Mercedes.
The FIA’s ADUO rankings have placed Ferrari at least four per cent behind the leading level, although those figures only evaluate the internal combustion engine rather than the complete hybrid system. That distinction is particularly important this season because the electrical side of the power unit carries far greater influence than under the previous regulations.
Ferrari’s difficulties with energy recovery and deployment with the SF-26 have consequently become an increasingly important part of the performance picture.
Fred Vasseur identifies Ferrari engine as biggest remaining problem
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has acknowledged that the power unit remains the area causing the greatest concern. In a recent interview with Motorsport-Magazin, the Frenchman indicated that the engine was probably Ferrari’s biggest current issue.
Vasseur nevertheless emphasised that the deficit could not be considered independently from the rest of the car. Ferrari deliberately accepted compromises in its power unit installation in order to benefit the chassis, with cooling requirements, battery dimensions and overall weight among the areas where the engineering groups had to balance competing priorities.
That trade-off helps illustrate the complexity of the 2026 regulations. Performance is no longer determined simply by how much power the internal combustion engine produces. Packaging, cooling, energy storage and electrical deployment can all influence how effectively the complete car performs over a lap.
Ferrari’s SF-26 technical development has therefore involved finding gains across both the aerodynamic and power unit sides rather than treating the two areas separately.
Lewis Hamilton highlights Ferrari straight-line deficit at Zandvoort
The scale of the problem was evident again at the Dutch Grand Prix. After the Zandvoort race, Lewis Hamilton complained that Ferrari had been losing around four tenths of a second on the straights alone.
That deficit was particularly costly because Ferrari’s chassis performance has otherwise allowed the team to compete near the front. With McLaren also making progress through recent upgrades, any weakness in straight-line speed or electrical deployment leaves the Maranello team vulnerable even at circuits where the underlying qualities of the SF-26 should be competitive.
Energy management has become especially important under the new Formula 1 regulations because the battery and electrical system now account for almost half of the car’s available power output. How efficiently a team can recover, store and then deploy that energy has consequently emerged as one of the defining technical battles of the 2026 season.
Ferrari prepares final 2026 power unit version for Monza
The timing of Baritaud’s departure is also notable because Ferrari is preparing to introduce the final version of its 2026 power unit at the Italian Grand Prix. Monza will place exceptional emphasis on straight-line performance, making Ferrari’s latest engine step one of the central technical developments of its home weekend.
The team is preparing its second ADUO development step, with the latest estimates pointing towards a 12–15 horsepower improvement from Ferrari’s ADUO-2 programme. The Italian Grand Prix should therefore provide an immediate indication of whether the Maranello engineers have been able to reduce one of the SF-26’s most significant disadvantages.
It remains unclear whether Baritaud’s exit will have any impact on Ferrari’s 2027 engine development. Gualtieri’s interim assumption of his responsibilities provides continuity for the department, but the latest departure adds another change to a technical group that has already lost several senior figures in recent seasons.
For the immediate future, however, attention turns to Ferrari’s 2026 Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza. With Mercedes having established the power unit advantage Ferrari has spent much of the season trying to overcome, the new specification arrives at a circuit where any improvement should be particularly visible.
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