Leclerc warns Ferrari's ADUO engine upgrade is no 'magic bullet' ahead of Austrian GP

Charles Leclerc has urged caution over Ferrari’s first engine upgrade under Formula 1’s new ADUO system, warning it is no quick fix as the Scuderia heads into the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring trailing championship leader Mercedes by 72 points.

ADUO — Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities — was introduced for the 2026 season to stop power unit performance from becoming an overwhelming differentiator under the new regulations. Each quarter, the FIA ranks the five engine suppliers, with those furthest from the benchmark granted the most upgrade tokens. Ferrari, Audi and Honda were measured at more than 4% off the pace, earning them two upgrades; Mercedes was found to be 2–4% behind the surprise benchmark of Red Bull, granting it one. Red Bull is currently contesting that verdict.

Ferrari and Audi both moved swiftly, bringing updated components to Spielberg. But Leclerc was careful not to oversell the development. “We don’t expect magic bullets unfortunately,” he said. “It’s not a revolution, but it’s a step in the right direction and that really shows the mentality of the team of trying to put everything together and really pushing the limits of the development to make sure that we don’t leave anything behind.”

Ferrari’s power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri echoed that measured tone before the weekend, describing the Spielberg upgrade as “relatively minor” and signalling that further gains are planned over the remainder of the season. A revised turbo is expected to arrive after the summer break.

Friday practice underlined the scale of the challenge. Leclerc handed his FP1 seat to Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic as part of the team’s mandatory young driver running, then finished a distant eighth in FP2, 0.841 seconds off the pace set by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who topped both sessions. Leclerc admitted the day left him “not so confident” of a strong result.

“But never say never,” he added, pointing to the way Ferrari’s Barcelona win had materialised despite an uninspiring Friday. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who took that victory in Spain, was 0.597s off Antonelli in FP2 — closer, but still well adrift of the Silver Arrows.

The first ADUO rankings were revealed to teams at the Monaco Grand Prix, and Ferrari had anticipated being in the group eligible for two upgrades. “We kind of expected to be on the ADUO looking at the trace we had,” Leclerc said, adding that the team had prepared accordingly to ensure the updated unit was race-ready at the earliest opportunity.