With the 2026 F1 season set to commence, here is a preview guide to everything you need to know ahead of the 24-round campaign.
McLaren and Lando Norris enter this round as the reigning constructors and drivers’ champions but this season sees a huge revamp in technical regulations, which promises to test teams and drivers to new limits across the scheduled 24-round calendar.
Red Bull meanwhile begin a new era as they partner with Ford in producing their own power units, with the move marking Ford’s return to F1 for the first time since it supplied engines to Jordan in the 2004 season.
Honda meanwhile have returned as a fully independent power unit supplier as they supply Aston Martin after a four-season absence, during which they partnered with Red Bull to jointly produce Red Bull’s power units after they had withdrawn as an independent supplier at the end of 2021.
This season though sees Audi and Cadillac enter F1 for the first time in their history, whilst Renault has departed the sport as a power unit supplier – which has meant that Alpine will run Mercedes power units for the first time since 2015 and marks the first season without Renault power units since 2000.
Now here is a guide to teams plus drivers, schedule and rule changes for the 2026 F1 season.
Teams and Drivers
| Entrant | Number | Driver |
| McLaren | 1 | Lando Norris |
| 81 | Oscar Piastri | |
| Mercedes | 63 | George Russell |
| 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | |
| Red Bull | 3 | Max Verstappen |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | |
| Ferrari | 16 | Charles Leclerc |
| 44 | Lewis Hamilton | |
| Williams | 23 | Alex Albon |
| 55 | Carlos Sainz | |
| Racing Bulls | 30 | Liam Lawson |
| 41 | Arvid Lindblad | |
| Aston Martin | 14 | Fernando Alonso |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | |
| Haas | 87 | Oliver Bearman |
| 31 | Esteban Ocon | |
| Audi | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | |
| Alpine | 10 | Pierre Gasly |
| 43 | Franco Colapinto | |
| Cadillac | 77 | Valtteri Bottas |
| 11 | Sergio Perez |
- Cadillac are joining F1 for the first time and have signed Valtteri Bottas plus Sergio Perez as their race drivers, marking a return to the sport for the pair after one season on the sidelines.
- Isack Hadjar has been promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull after Yuki Tsunoda was demoted to reserve driver in the wake of an underwhelming 2025 season.
- Arvid Lindblad has replaced Hadjar at Racing Bulls in a move which sees the 18-year old Brit step up from F2 after one year in that category.
2026 Race Calendar
| Round | Country | Date |
| 1 | Australia | 6-8 March |
| 2 | China* | 13-15 March |
| 3 | Japan | 27-29 March |
| 4 | Bahrain | 10-12 April |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | 17-19 April |
| 6 | USA (Miami)* | 1-3 May |
| 7 | Canada* | 22-24 May |
| 8 | Monaco | 5-7 June |
| 9 | Spain (Barcelona) | 12-14 June |
| 10 | Austria | 26-28 June |
| 11 | Great Britain* | 3-5 July |
| 12 | Belgium | 17-19 July |
| 13 | Hungary | 26-26 July |
| 14 | Netherlands* | 21-23 August |
| 15 | Italy | 4-6 September |
| 16 | Spain (Madrid) | 11-13 September |
| 17 | Azerbaijan | 24-26 September |
| 18 | Singapore* | 9-11 October |
| 19 | USA (Texas) | 23-25 October |
| 20 | Mexico | 30 October – 1 November |
| 21 | Brazil | 6-8 November |
| 22 | USA (Las Vegas) | 19-21 November |
| 23 | Qatar | 27-29 November |
| 24 | Abu Dhabi | 4-6 December |
*China, Miami, Canada, Great Britain, Netherlands and Singapore will host the sprint race weekend format this season.
- Madrid is joining the F1 calendar for the first time and will be host of the Spanish Grand Prix, which has meant that the race at Barcelona has been rebranded as the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
- Imola has been removed from the calendar after F1 opted not to renew its contract after the 2025 season.
- Azerbaijan GP will be held across Thursday 24 – Saturday 26 September due to Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day falling on Sunday 27 September, which had been the original date for the race.
Rule Changes
- FIA have extended the cost cap to $215 million due to inflation and costs previously excluded from the cap.
- MGU-H power unit component has been removed with the MGU-K power output increased to 470 bhp.
- Power output of the Internal Combustion Engine has been decreased to 540 bhp from 850 bhp.
- Downforce levels have been reduced by 15% on safety grounds rather than the initially-planned 40% reduction.
- Boost Mode is a new term to describe deployment of Energy Recovery System to defend or attack.
- Active Aerodynamics is a new term to describe movable front and rear wing elements.
- Overtake Mode is a new term to describe when a driver uses extra energy to help overtake if within one second of the car ahead.
- Drivers can now change their driver number during their F1 careers subject to approval from FIA and past drivers who raced with that number.
- Minimum of 55% of the car surface area must be covered in stickered or painted liveries to reduce amount of exposed black carbon to save weight.
- Driver cooling vests will be mandatory when the FIA declare a heat hazard on race weekends.
- Stewards will now be allowed to initiate reviews based on new evidence without a competitor submitting a right to review request, whilst a stewards panel will be set up to deal with time-sensitive decisions which can’t be sorted at the next race weekend.
- FIA have dropped the mandatory two-stop strategy used at 2025 Monaco Grand Prix for this season based on feedback from teams and drivers.
- If FIA declare a rain hazard at 40% chance or higher up to two hours before Qualifying, teams will be allowed to modify specific car set-up components which will remain confidential between FIA and teams in a private document.
- Due to the addition of Cadillac on the grid, six drivers will now be eliminated in Q1 and Q2 during Qualifying sessions, whilst Q3 has been extended to 13 minutes which will mean a reduction in the gap between Q2 and Q3 from eight to seven minutes.
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