Ferrari has a fresh power-unit concern at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Oliver Bearman suffered a sudden engine failure during FP2 in Baku, with the incident potentially significant for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The Haas driver was using Ferrari’s newer ADUO2 specification, making the nature of the failure particularly important as Maranello investigates whether the problem could recur.
The mechanical setback added another unwelcome element to a difficult Thursday for the Scuderia. Ferrari had already finished well behind Mercedes’ George Russell in the second practice session, while Baku’s extreme power-unit demands were always expected to provide a severe test of the latest specification. Ferrari’s broader energy-management challenge at Baku is particularly demanding because of the circuit’s exceptionally long full-throttle sections.
Oliver Bearman’s Ferrari engine fails suddenly in Baku FP2
Charles Leclerc was marginally faster than Lewis Hamilton as the leading Ferrari driver in FP2, but neither could threaten Russell’s benchmark. The Mercedes driver produced a 1:43.347 after benefiting from a slipstream on the main straight, leaving Leclerc fourth at 1.126 seconds and Hamilton fifth at 1.318 seconds.
Bearman’s session was far more problematic. The Haas driver finished 20th after missing the qualifying-simulation phase when his practice programme came to an abrupt halt. His Ferrari power unit failed almost immediately after he returned to the circuit following the red-flag interruption required to recover Arvid Lindblad’s crashed Racing Bulls from Turn 8.
Bearman immediately informed Haas over the radio that his engine had simply switched off, forcing him to park the VF-26. According to Formula1.it, the nature of the failure triggered alarm bells at Ferrari, with concern extending beyond Bearman’s car to the power units being used by Hamilton and Leclerc.
Ferrari investigating potentially serious ADUO2 issue
Formula1.it reported that Ferrari suspects a serious problem was responsible for ending Bearman’s FP2 after only around half an hour. The report added that there is concern within Maranello that the same issue could appear again during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend or potentially at subsequent races.
Ferrari and Haas had not yet established whether Bearman would require a new engine and therefore face a grid penalty in Baku. The Italian manufacturer is continuing to investigate the failure, with the upgraded power unit attracting particular attention because of the stresses created by Azerbaijan’s long straights.
Those demands were already among the reasons Ferrari approached the weekend cautiously, with questions surrounding the SF-26’s competitiveness in Baku before running began. A reliability problem with the latest engine specification would introduce another complication for the team as it attempts to maximise performance without compromising durability.
Why Bearman’s ADUO2 specification matters for Ferrari
Bearman has been running Ferrari’s ADUO2 engine since the specification debuted at the Italian Grand Prix. Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon, by contrast, has continued with the previous Ferrari power unit because only one upgraded engine was supplied to the team for Monza.
The ADUO2 package had already delivered less performance than initially expected. Ferrari gained around five horsepower from the Monza upgrade rather than the approximately 15 horsepower that had originally been predicted. The limited improvement also led Hamilton to suggest that Ferrari was losing around six tenths of a second to Mercedes on Monza’s straights.
That made Baku another important test of Ferrari’s latest engine work. The Azerbaijan circuit places an enormous emphasis on acceleration, electrical deployment and sustained full-throttle performance, areas that have been central to the Scuderia’s recent technical analysis.
Early Ferrari optimism disappears after FP2 failure
There had initially been some encouragement for Ferrari on Thursday. Jolyon Palmer was impressed by the team’s straight-line speed during FP1, suggesting that the upgraded power unit might be showing signs of progress on a circuit where engine performance is particularly important.
Bearman’s failure quickly changed the mood. With the Haas carrying the same newer Ferrari engine specification introduced at Monza, determining the exact cause now becomes important not only for Bearman’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix but also for Hamilton and Leclerc as Ferrari assesses the reliability of its latest package.
The investigation adds another variable ahead of the remainder of the Baku weekend, where Ferrari must balance performance, energy deployment and reliability on one of the most demanding circuits for the 2026 power units. The remaining session times can be found in the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix schedule.
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