Ferrari fire up important first 2026 power unit

Ferrari have reportedly fired up their first 2026 power unit at Maranello before the Christmas break.

Although this specific unit is a prototype and far from ready to be used on a race track, it indicates an additional step the Italian team have made ahead of the new regulations in F1.

The new era for the sport will mandate power units that achieve a balanced 50% share of internal combustion and electric power.

The rules will also impose stricter limitations on materials and solutions for the 1.6 litre V6 turbo engine, indicating a much more straightforward architecture in the future.

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Ferrari test 2026 prototype

According to a report from Motorsport Italy, Ferrari recently tested the prototype with a concept power unit for 2026 with 50-50 power distribution and without a Motor Generator Unit – Heat (MGU-H).

The test sees the completion of the initial phase of developing the new power unit under Ferrari’s technical director of the power unit, Enrico Gualtieri.

The new phase will be overseen by Wolf Zimmerman, who was appointed as the head of the project for the new generation of power units in the first quarter of 2023.

Ferrari is placing significant emphasis on the combustion phase of the development, amid F1’s shift to zero-impact fuels by the 2026 season. The team are aided in this domain with their collaboration with AvL, a research centre in Graz which provides expertise in hybrid engines.

It has also reported that there will be multiple editions of the 2026 power unit that will undergo testing, but it has been made clear that the initial test has been successful and has yielded positive results.

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