Ferrari is experiencing another significant change within its engine department: the Scuderia is losing its ERS manager, the Frenchman Thierry Baritaud, ahead of the introduction of its new V6.
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According to Italian journalist Leo Turrini, Baritaud, responsible for the entire energy recovery sector, has left the Scuderia while the power unit remains one of the team’s main weaknesses since the start of the 2026 season.
While the Ferrari chassis has long been considered a benchmark this season, before recent developments from McLaren challenged this superiority, the situation is much less favorable on the engine side.
An important new departure among engine specialists
The ADUO rankings published by the FIA place Ferrari at least 4% behind the reference, even though this measure only concerns the internal combustion engine and therefore does not reflect the overall performance of the power unit.
In this context, Baritaud’s departure represents a significant change. The French engineer was responsible for the entire Ferrari ERS department, including notably the MGU-K and the battery. At 69 years old, he has retired after a quarter of a century of dedicated service at Ferrari.
According to Leo Turrini, Baritaud has now left his position. Enrico Gualtieri, who oversees the entire Ferrari F1 engine department, will temporarily take over his responsibilities. This change comes after several major departures within Maranello’s engine department.
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Wolf Zimmermann and Lars Schmidt, who were among the main technical leaders of the project, had already been recruited last year by Audi under the impetus of Mattia Binotto, former Ferrari director.
Vasseur acknowledges the engine’s weakness
The Scuderia has also undergone a major restructuring on the chassis side. Loïc Serra took over as technical director after Enrico Cardile left for Aston Martin. It now remains to be seen whether Baritaud’s departure will have consequences on the development of the power unit intended for the 2027 season.
In the short term, Ferrari is mainly preparing to introduce the latest evolution of its 2026 engine at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. This new specification, called ADUO2, will be particularly awaited on the Monza track, where engine power plays a major role.
Fred Vasseur no longer hides that the power unit currently represents one of Ferrari’s main handicaps and nevertheless emphasizes that some of the power unit’s performance has been deliberately sacrificed to gain advantages elsewhere on the car.
“The biggest problem we still have today is probably the engine. It should also be noted that we have made some compromises regarding the engine for the benefit of the chassis, admits the team principal. Whether it is for cooling, battery size, weight, or something else. You just have to make compromises everywhere.”
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