Revealed: How Ferrari has fixed a key problem with second ADUO engine upgrade

The Italian Grand Prix this weekend at Monza holds special significance for Ferrari. Not because it is their home race, but because it could effectively serve as a crucial turning point for assessing just how realistic their chances are of challenging Mercedes for both world titles from now until the end of the season. 

This is because, as is well known, Ferrari will introduce an upgraded power unit on the SF-26, based on the development opportunities granted by the FIA through the allocation of the second ADUO of the season. These modifications can only affect the internal combustion engine, since the FIA has adopted a metric that evaluates the performance deficit based solely on the internal combustion engine’s performance, without considering the overall performance, which also includes the electric component. 

The power unit developed by the team led by Enrico Gualtieri had followed a very specific design path, based in part on the use of a smaller-diameter turbo to minimise turbo lag caused by the greater “inertia” when a turbocharger with a larger impeller reaches full speed. 

This had brought undoubted advantages in terms of responsiveness at the start, when the lights turned green; however, these were effectively negated by the PRE-START phase, which allows the engines to accelerate in neutral for five seconds to build up turbo pressure, thereby eliminating turbo lag.

The elimination of this advantage effectively placed the Ferrari engine at a performance disadvantage at high RPMs on the straights, precisely because of the lower power output resulting from the use of a smaller turbocharger. 

It is therefore obvious that, when defining the upgrade to be introduced using the second ADUO, the Maranello engineers focused their attention on adopting a turbocharger with a larger diameter than the previous one. 

It is accurate to consider this a significant modification, as the adoption of a larger turbocharger has countless implications for combustion, electronic ignition management, fuel consumption, and the power and torque delivery curves. 

In essence, although this mid-season change cannot be strictly classified as structural, it is undeniable that it effectively involved modifying all the power unit’s operating parameters. 

This obviously implies substantial repercussions in terms of electrical charge management, a crucial factor for these power units. The availability of greater power under specific operating conditions thus becomes essential to “address”, without completely eliminating, the shortcomings exhibited by the Maranello power unit at the start of the season. 

It is correct, in fact, to consider that the Scuderia, by virtue of the regulations governing ADUOs, has two additional evolutionary updates to implement for 2027.

Therefore, the upgrades introduced at Monza, characterised by the new turbo, but also by the analysis and adaptation of all aspects related to combustion, the other part of the internal combustion engine represent the foundation upon which the 2027 upgrades will be built, with the first of these effectively constituting the base version of next year’s power unit. 

Going into as much numerical detail as possible regarding the performance increase of the current PU, rumours suggest that bench test data showed an increase of over 2% in the power produced by the internal combustion engine, thanks in part to refinements made to the Shell fuel, which were carried out in parallel with the development of the power unit. 

In short, the heart of the SF-26 seems to be beating stronger than ever.