Two huge changes are coming to Formula 1 in 2026.
For the first time in more than a decade, the series has changed its engine formula, bringing with it the possibility one of the manufacturers could out-develop their rivals the same way Mercedes did 12 years ago. The new power unit rules have also promoted drastic changes to the chassis regulations which will produce a field of cars which look and behave very differently to what we’ve become used to.
That field will be larger, too after Formula One Management begrudgingly agreed to allow an 11th team to enter the world championship. The grid will therefore grow to 22 cars – still below capacity but the largest line-up seen since Haas arrived 10 years ago.
Surprises no doubt await as the 11 teams prepare to unleash a new breed of cars on the 24 circuits which comprise this year’s world championship. Here’s everything new to look out for.
Drivers and teams
The arrival of Cadillac – which originally entered under the Andretti brand – is the headline change to the line-up of teams and drivers in 2026. Based at Silverstone in the UK and Indianapolis in the USA, the team will use customer Ferrari power units to begin with but intends to introduce its own power unit from 2029.
Led by team principal Graeme Lowden, Cadillac has prioritised experience in its first choice of drivers. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will return after spending 2025 on the sidelines, forming the oldest driver line-up on the grid. Between them the pair have started 527 grands prix and won 16 of them, and drove for the teams which won every constructors’ championship between 2017 and 2023.
F1’s new engine rules have largely succeeded in luring new manufacturers to compete in the championship. Foremost among them is Audi, which has taken over Swiss-based team Sauber and will introduce its own power unit developed in Neuberg, Germany. It has retained Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto as drivers.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Red Bull’s days of using its Honda-designed power units are over as it has embarked on an ambitious engine project in a new facility by its base in Milton Keynes. It originally pursued a tie-up with Porsche for 2026, but they failed to agree terms, so instead Red Bull turned to Ford to tap its expertise in developing hybrid power units.
Max Verstappen will therefore be powered by the new Red Bull-Ford power unit. The same goes for his latest team mate, Isack Hadjar, who will hope to thrive in the same environment where Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Perez could not. Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team will use the same power units for its cars driven by Lawson and the only rookie on the 2026 grid, Formula 2 graduate Arvid Lindblad. These are the only changes any team has made to its driver line-up since last year.
But Honda, who announced their fourth departure from F1 in 2020, are back already. Their new power units will be used exclusively by Aston Martin.
While these manufacturers and many of their rivals saw the new power unit regulations as an opportunity to steal a march on the competition, Renault decided they were better off shuttering the engine programme which debuted in F1 almost 50 years ago. Alpine will take over the customer Mercedes engine deal previously used by Aston Martin – though Toto Wolff has already indicated the three-pointed star’s engines will be used by fewer teams after 2030.
Calendar
The main change on the calendar for 2026 is the addition of a second race in Spain at the expense of Italy’s. F1 bids farewell to Imola, which returned to the calendar in the pandemic-hit 2020 season, and heads to a new street circuit in Madrid, known as the Madring. Its first Spanish Grand Prix will take place at the end of the ‘European season’, following F1’s sole visit to Italy, at Monza. F1 will race at the Circuit de Catalunya again, in the same calendar slot as last season, though its round is now called the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
As last year the championship will comprise 24 grands prix plus six sprint races. However F1 has drastically changed the distribution of sprint races.
Previously they were concentrated at the end of the season – three in the final six rounds – which looked like an attempt to delay the point at which the championship would be decided. None of those will hold sprint events this year.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
For 2026 three venues will hold sprint races for the first time – Montreal, Zandvoort and Singapore. Shanghai and Miami will host them again and Silverstone is to have its first sprint event since the format was introduced in 2021. Is F1 experimenting with different venues for sprint races with the goal of holding more of them in future seasons? Despite the lack of widespread enthusiasm for the format, it seems likely.
In order to give the teams ample time to prepare for the biggest rules change in over a decade, F1 has increased the amount of pre-season testing compared to last year. Five days of running have been scheduled for the end of this month at the Circuit de Catalunya, followed by a pair of three-day tests at the Bahrain International Circuit during February, before the 2026 championship begins in Australia.
Rules
The changes to the 2026 season are too far-reaching to cover in detail here. They include both the chassis and – for the first time since 2014 – the power unit.
Key aspects of the previous V6 hybrid turbos remain essentially unchanged, including the combustion engine and kinetic energy recovery system. However the thermal energy capture device, known as the MGU-H, has been deleted and the amount of electrical energy teams can capture and deploy has been increased.
However there are concerns teams may not be able to recover sufficient energy for their needs over a full lap of the fastest circuits on the calendar, such as Monza and Las Vegas.
In an effort to aid the cars’ performance on straights, teams are now allowed to lower their front and rear wings at specific points on the track. This will allow them to shed downforce when they don’t need it, reducing drag.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
This has spelled the end for the Drag Reduction System, a sticking-plaster attempt to aid overtaking which F1 has relied on since 2011. However F1 drivers will still have a proximity-based passing aid this year: they can deploy extra power when they are within one second of the car ahead.
The FIA has also specified narrower and shorter maximum dimensions for this year’s cars and cut the minimum weight limit, both in an attempt to make the cars nimbler and more race-able. The changes are quite modest, however, and it remains to be seen how successful they will be and whether all the teams can hit the new lower weight limit.
Launches
FOM has opted not to repeat last year’s joint livery launch ‘F1 75’. Instead teams will make their own arrangements to present their new cars, though all their designs are likely to go through extensive changes before the first grand prix of the season in March.
The teams have announced the following launch dates so far:
- 15th January: Red Bull and Racing Bulls season launch
- 20th January: Audi F1 team launch
- 23rd January: Ferrari launch event and Alpine livery launch
- 8th February: Cadillac livery launch
- 9th February: Aston Martin ANR26 launch
Over to you
How should we judge whether F1’s new regulations are a success in 2026? What do you most hope to see in the new season? Have your say in the comments.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 1
- Norris set an F1 record with long wait to seal title: The 2025 season in stats and facts
- New red flag rule for 2026 to prevent repeat of Imola qualifying confusion and delay
- The Formula 1 cars of 2025 ranked from slowest to fastest
- Which F1 teams created the best – and worst – special livery designs during 2025?
- RaceFans’ readers best F1 Caption Competition winners of 2025