Hamilton holds power advantage over Leclerc after Ferrari forced to revert engine for Madrid

Ferrari had only recently taken advantage of the latest ADUO update permitted by the FIA and upgraded its engine going into its home race, its first PU update of the 2026 season. Leclerc lost control of his SF-26 on acceleration through the Parabolica at Monza, spinning into the barriers in a 60G impact. In light of that crash, Ferrari has opted to fit a pre-ADUO PU from its pool.

Ferrari engineers are understood to have deemed the unit to be sound, but they did not want to take the risk of running it at the Madring. Hamilton, meanwhile, is expected to continue using the ADUO2 specification, leaving the two SF-26 cars running different engine configurations for the first time this season.

The timing of Ferrari's decision could hardly be worse. Qualifying is expected to be pivotal due to the difficulty of overtaking, as most corners only have one racing line. The ADUO2 upgrade included work around the turbocharger and overall power unit efficiency, meaning any shortfall in single-lap power could cost Leclerc positions he may be unable to recover on Sunday.

Despite the older engine, Leclerc showed strong pace on Friday, finishing P3 and P2 in the two sessions and just one tenth behind Free Practice 2 pacesetter Kimi Antonelli, as GPblog reported during FP2. Speaking afterwards, Leclerc acknowledged the importance of qualifying without referencing his engine situation.

"It is more about trying to maximise what we have and we will see at the end of Qualifying where that leaves us," he said."I expect the Mercedes is quite strong but you never know so I'll just focus on myself, trying to optimise everything we can on our car and hopefully we can do something really good tomorrow."

The ADUO-updated PU is understood to be earmarked for Leclerc's car at the next race in Azerbaijan in a fortnight, once the team has completed more thorough inspections at Maranello. Madrid will therefore provide Ferrari with an unusual direct comparison between the two specifications during the same race weekend, even if that was not the team's intention.

The Madring could suit the characteristics of the SF-26, with a medium-to-high level of aerodynamic downforce required and the asphalt not expected to provide a particularly high level of grip. The Ferrari should also be less affected by the power deficit to the Mercedes engine because the 22 corners provide considerably greater battery recharge opportunities than Monza. Whether that is enough to offset Leclerc's power gap to Hamilton will be one of Saturday's most compelling subplots.