‘Whispers’ around Ferrari’s 2026 engine have led to two conclusions that will concern Lewis Hamilton

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Ferrari have been very secretive about their 2026 power unit ahead of the upcoming Formula 1 season.

Team principal Fred Vasseur is overseeing Ferrari’s preparation for the biggest change in F1 regulations in the sport’s 75-year history.

A host of aerodynamic rule changes are being introduced, but one of the biggest talking points is the power units.

There are going to be five power unit manufacturers on the grid next season: Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull Powertrains, Honda and Audi.

Cadillac will use Ferrari’s engines next year, but will switch to their own General Motors power units as early as 2029.

It means Cadillac and Haas are reliant on the work Ferrari are doing behind the scenes on their engines as customer teams, but so far, little has been said about how the Italian team are getting on.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have had to deal with a disappointing 2025 campaign and are unlikely to win a race this year.

What’s now being said by journalist Leo Turrini about Ferrari’s 2026 engine efforts won’t fill either driver with confidence going into next season.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Ferrari ‘whispers’ suggest 2026 power unit has produced a ‘lack of results’ after staff exits

Turrini was writing on his blog ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the 2026 season in mind.

Following the news that Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt look set to leave Ferrari’s engine department to join Audi, Turrini wrote: “That Zimmermann and Schmidt, engine designers with long-standing ties to Ferrari, are terminating their collaboration with Maranello just months after the introduction of the new power unit is news that is open to interpretation.

“First hypothesis, the doubts about the prospects of the 2026 engine are real, and the split is the result of a disappointment that hopefully will be disproved by the facts.

“Second, Zimmermann and Schmidt were convinced by Mattia Binotto, who found arguments to get him to follow them at Audi.

“After that, it’s worth cultivating the hope that Fred Vasseur knows what he’s doing.

“As of mid-September, Ferrari still hasn’t tested the entire PU on the bench. And there are three months to go until the homologation of the components.

“Engineer turnover in F1 is the norm. The lack of results facilitates the inundation of whispers.

“Winning helps you win, and when you lose, it’s not unlikely that it turns into a sort of Grand Hotel. People come, people go…”

READ MORE: Who is Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur? Everything you need to know

Alpine are the perfect warning for any Formula 1 team who don’t deliver on 2026 power units

There have previously been suggestions that Ferrari are heading for a dead end with their power unit for next year, and two key personnel leaving won’t make those suggestions disappear.

However, until the cars take to the track in pre-season and next year’s Australian Grand Prix, no one really knows for certain how competitive each team is going to be.

Plenty of drivers have tested the 2026 cars in the simulator, and there are worries about the hybrid power units and whether they’ll have the power to consistently achieve their maximum speeds at the faster circuits.

If that’s the case, then all five power unit suppliers will be worried about repeating the mistake Renault made during the current regulation set.

Alpine have a power deficiency compared to their rivals right now, because Renault didn’t perfect their engine before a freeze of development was introduced in 2022 to give teams a chance to switch development to next year’s power units.

The French team are bottom of the constructors’ championship now, and Ferrari will be desperate not to fall into the same trap.