Ferrari Brings First ADUO Power Unit Upgrade to Austria

Ferrari targets Red Bull Ring with its first ADUO power unit step

Ferrari is preparing to introduce the first of its permitted ADUO engine upgrades at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix, as the Scuderia moves to address a confirmed power deficit against the benchmark Red Bull Powertrains unit.

The backdrop is the FIA's inaugural ADUO assessment, communicated to manufacturers on Monaco Grand Prix race day. ^[2] The findings confirmed Red Bull as the ICE benchmark, meaning the Milton Keynes outfit receives no additional upgrade allowances this year. ^[1] Sky Sports News confirmed it had seen the relevant document, which states Ferrari is more than four per cent adrift of Red Bull's power unit, entitling the Italian manufacturer to two additional upgrade homologations in 2026 and two further in 2027. ^[1]

The ADUO mechanism, set out in Article 4.3 of Appendix C5 of the 2026 F1 Technical Regulations, grants manufacturers whose ICE Performance Index is at least four per cent below the leading engine two additional upgrades in the current season and two more the following year. ^[4] FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis was clear that the system "is not a kind of balance of performance mechanism" but rather "a cost cap relief mechanism" allowing eligible manufacturers to develop their engine through a downward adjustment to the cap. ^[4]

Ferrari's first upgrade step is scheduled to coincide with the team's third power unit introduction of the season at the Red Bull Ring at the end of June. ^[6] A second upgrade is planned for September at Monza, where the fourth engine change will align with the second permitted ADUO window. ^[6] The revised unit is not an entirely new power unit; the modifications are nonetheless expected to deliver a gain in the region of 30 horsepower. ^[6]

Fred Vasseur had flagged the opportunity publicly since early in the season. Speaking to The Race, Vasseur said: "It's more that you will have the ADUO at one stage, and that the addition of the ADUO will be an opportunity for us to close the gap." ^[5]

Lewis Hamilton reinforced the picture after Monaco, telling Sky Sports: "Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we're behind. We've got now these tokens to try to develop and close the gap." ^[3]

:::analysis Austria, Great Britain, and Belgium represent three consecutive high-power-demand circuits where Ferrari's ICE deficit has been most exposed. Introducing the upgraded unit at the Red Bull Ring rather than waiting targets those losses directly at the point they hurt most. Whether 30 horsepower of theoretical gain translates cleanly to lap-time improvement depends heavily on how much of the deficit is ICE versus energy-management related; the ADUO mechanism evaluates only the ICE, so any gap on the electrical side remains unaddressed by this package. Ferrari's chassis has already demonstrated strong potential with Lewis Hamilton's win in Madrid, which means the power unit has been the principal ceiling on the SF-26's competitiveness. A successful Austria introduction would still leave Ferrari chasing a moving target; Mercedes holds one ADUO upgrade of its own and is not standing still. :::

Related reading

• What is ADUO? F1's 2026 engine upgrade system explained
• Tire degradation at the Red Bull Ring
• The undercut at Austria: how pit-stop strategy shapes the race