By: After a strong first part of the season, which brought a return to winning ways and a solid second place in the constructors’ standings, Ferrari went into the break viewing the glass as half full. At the very least, there is confidence that it can fight for major targets, with updates to the SF-26 already prepared, as seen in the Netherlands last weekend.
While that chance of fighting for major targets is not yet concrete, neither can it be considered unrealistic, given recent race events have shown Mercedes can be beaten, contrary to the fears at the start of the year. With Hamilton’s victory in Spain and Leclerc’s at Silverstone, Ferrari’s season changed and the Brackley team’s challenge appeared far more fierce. McLaren provides further confirmation.
Work on the 067/6
Ferrari’s aim, then, is to give Toto Wolff’s team a hard time. To that end, the Racing Department is targeting the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, in front of its home crowd, for the debut of the evolved engine featuring ADUO-2. It is a mission for which Maranello’s engine department has worked hard, meeting the necessary targets before approving a unit that, as long reported and confirmed by our sources close to the Scuderia, will feature a new turbocharger.
The evolution of the 067/6 could therefore potentially allow Ferrari to recover some of the power gap separating it from the best units in the field, with the most optimistic estimates suggesting a gain of no more than 10 horsepower. The new specification, also revised in other minor components, should enable the power unit to sustain its output more effectively and deliver greater top-end performance on the straights.
Genuine enthusiasm?
A debut that Enrico Gualtieri’s men have carefully considered and which, despite some rumours, will arrive on schedule in Italy, when the fourth unit of the season is homologated. This time, it should not be accompanied by changes to the fuel. However, the narrative surrounding the ADUO-2 evolution of the 067/6, as was already the case in Austria with the first evolution, risks becoming excessive and overly optimistic.
According to information gathered by our sources close to the GeS, the new power unit will represent a step forward in terms of power, even if, as mentioned, the estimate of 10-15 horsepower appears rather optimistic compared with reality. For that reason, as we are told, the atmosphere of great enthusiasm that a certain narrative has been trying to project externally for months is not reflected at the factory in Maranello. On the contrary, there is cautious optimism mixed with hope in Emilia, in the knowledge that everything possible has been done, despite the well-known constraints, in the work to evolve the engine.
