Has Ferrari found an engine advantage? The 2025 Formula 1 season was one that Ferrari would rather forget. Despite high expectations and a star-studded driver line-up, the Scuderia failed to win a single Grand Prix, highlighting how far behind its rivals it had fallen. However, with Formula 1 set to enter a new technical era in 2026, optimism is quietly returning to Maranello. New regulations, power units and cars offer Ferrari a rare opportunity to hit the reset button.

According to a Motorsport.it report, Ferrari has adopted an unconventional approach to developing its 2026 engine. The question now being asked in the paddock is whether this fresh thinking has finally given them a genuine technical advantage.

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A radical rethink of cylinder head design

At the heart of Ferrari’s new concept lies an unexpected material choice. Traditionally, aluminium has been the preferred option for cylinder heads in Formula 1 due to its light weight and excellent thermal properties. However, Ferrari has reportedly been testing cylinder heads made from aluminium as well as a newly developed steel alloy.

This is closely linked to the 2026 regulations. From next season, the minimum weight of Formula 1 power units will increase to 150 kilograms. As weight becomes less critical, Ferrari engineers believe that the heavier steel alloy could offer significant performance benefits. Steel can withstand much higher pressures and temperatures inside the combustion chamber, which could allow for more aggressive ignition strategies and more efficient combustion.

If successful, this could result in improved thermal efficiency and better overall performance from the internal combustion engine portion of the hybrid unit.

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Reliability risks and Austrian expertise

The major concern with such an approach is durability. Higher pressures and temperatures inevitably place greater stress on engine components. This is particularly relevant under the 2026 rules, which limit teams to just four combustion engines per season. Any reliability issues could quickly prove disastrous.

In an effort to mitigate this risk, Ferrari has reportedly enlisted the help of AVL, an Austrian engineering firm renowned for its expertise in hybrid powertrain development. According to Motorsport.it, AVL played a pivotal role in refining Ferrari’s steel cylinder head concept, overcoming structural and thermal challenges.

The collaboration appears to have paid off. Ferrari is now said to be fully committed to the steel design, having made sufficient progress in terms of both performance and durability during testing.

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Paddock whispers and engine rankings

Under the 2026 regulations, Formula 1 power units will deliver power through a 50/50 split between electrical energy and internal combustion. Success will depend not just on power output, but also on efficiency, integration, and energy management.

Paddock sources suggest that Ferrari has made significant progress in this area. While Mercedes is widely regarded as setting the standard for 2026, Ferrari is reportedly considered the second strongest engine manufacturer at this stage.

Such progress would represent a notable improvement on the disappointing 2025 season, during which Ferrari failed to win a Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint was the team’s sole highlight.

Ferrari’s championship drought is stark: no drivers’ title since Kimi Räikkönen in 2007 and no constructors’ crown since 2008 — an era defined by naturally aspirated V8 engines, long before hybrid technology reshaped Formula 1. Whether this new engine philosophy can finally end that drought remains to be seen, but it will become clear in 2026.

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NEXT ARTICLE – Ferrari’s 2 cars designed for 2026. More Maranello madness?

The six race run in which concluded the 2024 Formula One season did not quite have the excitement of 2025 where the drivers’ championship was decided at the final chequered flag of the season. Max Verstappen in fact claimed the 2024 title in Las Vegas with two race weekends remaining.

However in terms of the constructors’ championship, the 2024 run in was nail biting for McLaren who once held a 74 point lead over Ferrari as the sport embarked on its final two triple header six races.

Two wins together with six podiums from Austin to Abu Dhabi saw the Scuderia come within just 14 points of their first championship since 2008. Yet at the annual Ferrari festive bash, Fred Vasseur announced that their 2025 F1 challenger would be an entirely new car.

 

Ferrari strange decision in 2024

This was confusing for a number of reasons. Firstly the SF-24 finished the year the strongest, but the Scuderia designed a car for 2025 that was “99% new components.” The team switched their tried and tested front suspension from its push rod configuration to a pull rod design.

But this was the final year of a set of car design technical regulations and the remainder of the field were refining their 2024 challenger. The result? The decision was proven to be a huge mistake, as the Scuderia failed to win a single Grand Prix and claimed just seven podiums all thanks to Charles Leclerc.

Now La Gazzetta in Italy is reporting Ferrari have design two cars for 2026, one for early testing and the other for the opening round of the season in Australia. Of course teams historically have launched a car for testing and then refined it significantly before it first races in anger, but two cars to start the year?

Yet building two different cars before the tyre turns in anger seems a strange approach, yet the madness of Maranello means nothing can be ruled out from the mercurial F1 racers. “Fred Vasseur’s team will present itself to the pre-seasonal tests with different versions of the same car, to best test solutions and set-ups,” reports La Gazetta…READ MORE ON THIS STORY