Ferrari will run an updated power unit at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix after making use of an opportunity to upgrade its engine under Formula 1's performance catch-up mechanism, ADUO.
Lewis Hamilton won the last round of the championship in Spain after Ferrari brought a significant aerodynamic upgrade to its SF-26 car, and the Italian team could take another step forward with a new engine this weekend.
Although it may seem counterintuitive for a winning team to be given the opportunity to upgrade its power unit, ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) focuses specifically on the performance of the internal combustion engine rather than the overall performance of the car and its hybrid power unit.
The performance of all engines in F1 were measured by the FIA over the first six races, with Red Bull's internal combustion engine deemed to be the benchmark ahead of Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda.
Mercedes' engine -- which powers McLaren, Alpine, Williams and the championship-leading works team -- was measured at more than 2% off Red Bull's, meaning the manufacturer was awarded one upgrade for both this season and next season.
The performance of the Ferrari, Audi and Honda were all measured at more than 4% off the Red Bull, meaning each manufacturer has been permitted two upgrades for this season and next season.
It emerged Audi made use of the first of its upgrades in Spain, and ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari confirmed it was bringing an upgrade to its engine.
"The update we are bringing to Spielberg is a relatively minor one and it's the result of the work completed in recent weeks to transfer improvements from our development programme to the track," Ferrari power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri said. "It epitomises key principles of our sport: continuous improvement, reacting quickly, and deploying gains at the earliest opportunity.
"This update is not a major step, and it will not, on its own, change the competitive order. What it does show is the attitude of the team and our technical partners: to push continuously and to make the most of every opportunity to improve our package.
"In a championship as competitive as this one, it is unrealistic to expect a single update to transform the overall picture, especially under the current homologation and development constraints. Performance is built progressively, not only through hardware changes, but also through how effectively you optimise the package race by race."
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ADUO was introduced by the FIA this season amid concerns F1's new power unit regulations might leave struggling manufacturers locked into a performance deficit.
There was surprise among teams when the FIA announced that Red Bull Powertrains, which has built an F1 engine for the first time this year, was considered the benchmark engine, while championship leaders Mercedes and front-runners Ferrari qualified for upgrades.
Honda, which has struggled more than any other manufacturer under the new regulations, is only planning one major upgrade this season around the time of F1's summer break despite being allowed two.
"We are planning to introduce a new engine around summer, then I don't think we have another step in this year, so we just focus to bring a reasonable step around summer," Honda trackside general manager Shintaro Onihara said. "We have a long list to complete, it's not a small step but not miracle, but we are working hard to bring a reasonable step."