Ferrari takes Baku penalty now while Mercedes waits: why two teams chose opposite engine strategies

Mercedes was granted one engine development opportunity under the FIA's Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system for 2026, having been judged between two and four per cent behind Red Bull's benchmark power unit.

That upgrade has not yet been deployed, despite being available since June. Russell, who has already exceeded his allocation for most power unit components, confirmed the team's approach ahead of Baku.

The calculation is logical. Russell had already exhausted his allocation of internal combustion engine, turbo, energy store and control electronics before Baku. Taking a new full-spec engine now would have triggered a back-of-grid start, then a second back-of-grid start weeks later when the ADUO upgrade arrived and forced a fresh installation.

Rolling the two events into a single weekend collapses that double hit into one. A final decision on the timing has not been taken, although the upgrade now looks much more likely to appear at the Austin, Mexico, and São Paulo triple-header beginning on October 23.

Ferrari's situation left no such option. The FIA determined that Ferrari's engine trailed Red Bull by more than four per cent, granting the Scuderia two ADUO upgrades for 2026, compared to Mercedes' one.

Ferrari has already introduced both specifications, most recently the ADUO2 at the Italian Grand Prix. With no future upgrade to pair with a penalty, taking Leclerc's grid drop now is the only logical path.

After Leclerc's heavy Monza crash complicated his power unit rotation, Ferrari identified Baku as a suitable race to absorb the penalty, as GPblog reported.

Hamilton is expected to take his penalty at a separate race, with Mexico City and Interlagos the most likely venues, as GPblog also reported.

Mercedes leads the constructors' championship with 503 points, 145 ahead of Ferrari on 358 , with Lando Norris now just five points behind Hamilton in the drivers' standings , making every lost weekend costly for the Scuderia and removing any incentive to delay.

It is an intriguing position. The same regulatory framework, two entirely different penalty timelines: Ferrari's shaped by upgrades already spent, Mercedes' by an upgrade still to come, but ultimately one that looks to strengthen the latter's grip on the F1 constructors' title.