Ferrari confirm power unit update for Austrian Grand Prix weekend

Ferrari have shared plans to introduce a power unit upgrade at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, with the team “working relentlessly” to exploit development opportunities.

Ferrari’s new power unit specification – which follows on from a significant car update – comes as part of their 2026 ‘ADUO’ (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) allowance.

It also arrives shortly after Lewis Hamilton’s breakthrough first Grand Prix victory for the Scuderia in Barcelona, which ended Mercedes’ winning start to the season and F1’s new era of regulations.

Speaking before the Red Bull Ring event, Enrico Gualtieri, Ferrari’s power unit Technical Director, confirmed the upgrade, as well as explaining some of the thinking behind it.

“Since the beginning of the 2026 project, we have combined a continuous development approach with longer-term development programmes, to fully exploit all available opportunities to increase the performance of our power unit,” said Gualtieri. “These two streams run in parallel and often reinforce each other.

“The entire team at the factory is now working relentlessly to make the most of the additional opportunities provided by the ADUO mechanism, in full alignment with our intended development roadmap.

“The update we are bringing to Spielberg is a relatively minor one and it’s the result of the work completed in recent weeks to transfer improvements from our development programme to the track.

“It epitomises key principles of our sport: continuous improvement, reacting quickly, and deploying gains at the earliest opportunity.”

As for how realistic it is to expect one such update to transform the pecking order, Gualtieri moved to calm expectations, saying: “As mentioned, this update is not a major step, and it will not, on its own, change the competitive order.

“What it does show is the attitude of the team and our technical partners: to push continuously and to make the most of every opportunity to improve our package.

“In a championship as competitive as this one, it is unrealistic to expect a single update to transform the overall picture, especially under the current homologation and development constraints.

“Performance is built progressively, not only through hardware changes, but also through how effectively you optimise the package race by race.”

Ferrari sit second in the Teams’ Championship heading to Austria, holding 190 points to Mercedes’ 262, while Hamilton is second in the Drivers’ Championship, holding 115 points to Kimi Antonelli’s 156.