Enrico Gualtieri is an Italian engineer who serves as Technical Director, Power Unit at Scuderia Ferrari, leading the team's engine and hybrid programme. He was born on 21 February 1975 in Modena, in the heart of Italy's Motor Valley. ¹

Education and joining Ferrari

Gualtieri graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in 2000. He came to Ferrari to complete his thesis and has remained with the team ever since, building his entire career within the Scuderia's power unit organisation. ¹

“Gualtieri graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in 2000.”

Career through the engine department

Gualtieri began as a simulation specialist, becoming an engine fluid-dynamics simulation specialist and taking on growing responsibility in the fluid dynamics and combustion department, working first on research and then, from 2008, on design. He was appointed Head of Engine Reliability in 2010, a role he held into the start of the V6 hybrid era in 2014. He then led engine design and development, and in 2017 moved to head power unit project management. ¹

Senior leadership

Gualtieri was appointed head of Ferrari's power unit area in 2019 and was promoted to Technical Director, Power Unit in 2023. In this role he sits at the top of Ferrari's engine organisation alongside the chassis technical leadership and reports to Team Principal Fred Vasseur. ²

The 2026 power unit

Gualtieri's central focus is Ferrari's 2026 power unit, designed to the sport's new engine regulations, which he has described as a fundamental shift rather than an evolution. The electrical and combustion outputs are rebalanced toward a roughly 50/50 split, with the electrical component nearly tripled; the MGU-H is removed so energy is recovered only through the MGU-K under braking; and the cars run on near-fully sustainable fuel. Gualtieri has stressed that energy-deployment software and management, rather than raw horsepower alone, will be the decisive competitive factor. ²

The competitive picture

Ferrari's 2026 engine began the season some way behind the benchmark set by Red Bull Powertrains, a gap that under the new rules earned the team extra development tokens and dyno time to catch up. When Ferrari brought an upgrade for the Austrian Grand Prix, Gualtieri deliberately managed expectations, saying "this update is not a major step, and it will not on its own change the competitive order" in so tight a championship. ³ Closing the straight-line deficit to a dominant Mercedes has been the defining task of his programme through 2026. ³

Bottom line

A Ferrari engineer of more than two decades' standing, Gualtieri carries responsibility for the most significant power unit change in a generation. Why he matters: with the new rules placing engine and energy management at the heart of performance, his work is decisive in determining whether the SF-26's chassis gains can be matched on power and whether Ferrari can return to the front. ³