2026 Formula One World Championship

Lando Norris is the reigning World Drivers' Champion, while McLaren-Mercedes are the reigning World Constructors' Champions.

The 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars, which will be the 77th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship will be contested over twenty-four Grands Prix held around the world. It will begin in March and end in December. Drivers and teams are scheduled to compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. Lando Norris is the reigning World Drivers' Champion, while McLaren-Mercedes are the reigning World Constructors' Champions.

The 2026 season features a major set of regulation changes with a revised power unit configuration and new active aerodynamics. Audi, who acquired Sauber in 2024, enter as a works team with its own power unit, while Cadillac are making their debut in the championship using Ferrari power units, marking the first time an eleventh team has competed since 2016. Honda, through its Honda Racing Corporation subsidiary, entered into an exclusive works team agreement with Aston Martin, and are supplying them with their own power unit after ending its current relationship with Red Bull Racing. Ford returned to the sport for the first time since 2004, supporting Red Bull Powertrains in supplying power units to Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls. Renault will no longer be an engine supplier as Alpine switch to Mercedes power units.

Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.[1] All teams are due to compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.[2]

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Power unit	Race drivers
				No.	Driver name
BWT Alpine F1 Team[3]	Alpine-Mercedes	A526[4]	Mercedes-AMG F1 M17[5][6]	10 43	Pierre Gasly  Franco Colapinto
Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team[7]	Aston Martin Aramco-Honda	AMR26[8]	Honda RA626H[9][10]	14 18	Fernando Alonso  Lance Stroll
Atlassian Williams F1 Team[11][12]	Atlassian Williams-Mercedes	FW48[13]	Mercedes-AMG F1 M17[14]	23 55	Alexander Albon Carlos Sainz Jr.
Audi Revolut F1 Team[15][16][17]	Audi	R26[18]	Audi AFR 26 Hybrid[15]	5 27	Gabriel Bortoleto  Nico Hülkenberg
Cadillac Formula 1 Team[19][20][21]	Cadillac-Ferrari	MAC-26[22]	Ferrari 067/6[23]	11 77	Sergio Pérez Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari HP[24]	Ferrari	SF-26[25]	Ferrari 067/6[26][27]	16 44	Charles Leclerc  Lewis Hamilton
TGR Haas F1 Team[28]	Haas-Ferrari	VF-26[28]	Ferrari 067/6[29][30]	31 87	Esteban Ocon  Oliver Bearman
McLaren Mastercard F1 Team[31]	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL40[32]	Mercedes-AMG F1 M17[33]	1 81	Lando Norris  Oscar Piastri
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team[34]	Mercedes	F1 W17[35]	Mercedes-AMG F1 M17[26]	12 63	Kimi Antonelli George Russell
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team[36]	Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford	VCARB 03[37]	Red Bull Ford DM01[38][39]	30 41	Liam Lawson Arvid Lindblad
Oracle Red Bull Racing[40]	Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford	RB22[41]	Red Bull Ford DM01[38][39]	3 6	Max Verstappen Isack Hadjar
Sources:[42][43]

Audi and Cadillac will enter Formula One for the first time, while Ford will return for the first time since 2004. Honda will return as an independent engine supplier for the first time since 2021.

Cadillac become the eleventh team, marking Cadillac's first appearance in the series and the first new team on the grid since Haas in 2016. The team initially using Ferrari power units and gearboxes,[19][20][21][23] will transition to a power unit developed in-house by its parent company, General Motors, in collaboration with TWG Motorsports.[44] This power unit programme has received approval from the FIA and is scheduled to be introduced from the 2029 season.[45] Cadillac had previously tried to enter Formula One in conjunction with Andretti Global.[46][47]

Three new engine manufacturers enter Formula One, coinciding with the engine regulation changes. Audi enter the sport for the first time, having purchased the existing Sauber team in 2024. Audi's predecessor company Auto Union did compete in Grand Prix racing prior to World War II and the inception of the World Championship in 1950.[48] The team raced in 2024 and 2025 as Kick Sauber, using Ferrari engines, before it becomes the Audi factory team in 2026. Thus, Ferrari is supplying Haas and Cadillac as customer teams.[15][49]

Ford returned to Formula One as an engine supplier for the first time since it provided engines for its former customer team Jordan in 2004.[50] It formed a partnership with Red Bull Powertrains, which will supply Red Bull Racing and their second team Racing Bulls. Honda, which partially withdrew from Formula One in 2021 whilst remaining partners of Red Bull Powertrains, split from the two Red Bull-owned teams and relaunched a fully-independent engine programme supplying Aston Martin under the Honda Racing Corporation subsidiary. Aston Martin had used Mercedes power units since they re-joined the sport, who had supplied engines to Aston Martin's predecessors since 2009. Honda had previously collaborated with Aston Martin's predecessor Jordan from 1998 to 2002.[9][38][51]

Renault ceased to provide engines for Alpine from 2026 after achieving poor results since the beginning of the hybrid power unit regulations in 2014. 2014 is thus the first season without Renault as engine supplier since the 2000 championship. Alpine became a customer team, as opposed to a full works outfit, as had been the case since Renault reacquired Team Enstone ahead of the 2016 season.[5] Alpine became a customer team of Mercedes, utilising their engines and gearboxes from this season onwards; up until this point, 2015 marked the last time a rendition of Team Enstone used customer Mercedes engines, competing as Lotus.[6]

Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas returned to full time seats with Cadillac. Pérez had previously signed a two-year contract with Red Bull Racing until 2026, but this was terminated by mutual agreement at the end of the 2024 season. Bottas last competed with Sauber in 2024 and was one of Mercedes's reserve drivers for 2025.[52] Isack Hadjar moved from Racing Bulls to Red Bull Racing, replacing Yuki Tsunoda, who will become Red Bull's test and reserve driver.[53] Hadjar's replacement was Arvid Lindblad, who was promoted from Formula 2.[41]

The 2026 calendar comprises twenty-four Grands Prix, as with the previous two seasons.[54] The Chinese, Miami, Canadian, British, Dutch, and Singapore Grands Prix will feature the sprint format.[55]

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Race date
1	Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	8 March
2	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 March
3	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	29 March
4	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	12 April
5	Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah	19 April
6	Miami Grand Prix	Miami International Autodrome, Miami Gardens, Florida	3 May
7	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal	24 May
8	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monaco	7 June
9	Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	14 June
10	Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	28 June
11	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	5 July
12	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	19 July
13	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	26 July
14	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	23 August
15	Italian Grand Prix	Monza Circuit, Monza	6 September
16	Spanish Grand Prix	Madring, Madrid	13 September
17	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	26 September[a][b]
18	Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	11 October
19	United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	25 October
20	Mexico City Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	1 November
21	São Paulo Grand Prix	Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo	8 November
22	Las Vegas Grand Prix	Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Paradise, Nevada	21 November[a]
23	Qatar Grand Prix	Lusail International Circuit, Lusail	29 November
24	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	6 December
Source:[54]

The Spanish Grand Prix will move from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló to a new street circuit in Madrid built around the IFEMA.[57] The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will continue to host a race under the name Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.[58] The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola was discontinued after their contract to host their race until 2025 was not renewed.[54] The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on a Saturday following a request from the promoter and relevant government stakeholders to accommodate Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day.[56][59]

Financial, power unit, aerodynamic, geometric, and safety regulations are all set to be altered for the 2026 season.[60]

For 2026, the Formula One cost cap for team operational expenditures was increased from $135 million to $215 million. This is primarily due to inflation adjustments and the inclusion of costs that were previously exempted from the cap. Key expenses remaining outside the cost cap include driver salaries, the salaries of the three highest-paid team members, marketing, travel and hospitality costs, as well as infrastructure investments.[61][62][63][64] A separate cost cap for power unit manufacturers, which was introduced in 2023, was also increased from $95 million to $130 million from 2026 onwards to support the development of the new hybrid engines.[65][66][67]

New power unit regulations have been introduced for the 2026 season.[68][69] The new power units still produce over 1,000 bhp (750 kW), although the power comes from different sources. The engine regulations see the turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 internal combustion engine configuration used since 2014 retained. However, the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat), which has also been in use since 2014, has been removed, while the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) output increases to 470 bhp (350 kW) from 160 bhp (120 kW). The power output of the internal combustion part of the power unit decreases to 540 bhp (400 kW) from 850 bhp (630 kW). Fuel flow rates are measured and limited based on energy, rather than mass of the fuel itself. The power units use a fully sustainable fuel being developed by Formula One.[70][71] The power units are expected to recover twice as much electrical energy as before.[72]

During the Commission meeting in early 2025, it was agreed to explore for catch-up options for power unit development for manufacturers who may have fallen behind their competitors in the initial development phase. The Commission also suggested that a relevant advisory committee look at whether the energy deployment of new power units should be reduced in race trim from the planned 470 bhp (350 kW) after some teams became concerned about the possibility of their cars running out of deployable energy in a race.[73]

On 6 June 2024, the 2026 car concept was revealed. The concept featured new active aerodynamics in both the front and rear wings. The concept saw the elimination of the drag reduction system, being replaced by a new overtake mode, initially referred to as manual override mode.[74] The wheelbase was reduced from 360 cm (140 in) to 340 cm (130 in), the width was reduced from 200 cm (79 in) to 190 cm (75 in), and the minimum mass was reduced by 30 kg (66 lb). The tyres' widths will also be reduced by 2.5 cm (0.98 in) on the front pair and by 3.0 cm (1.2 in) on the rears.[72][75] The floor will have reduced ground effect to ease the issues cars have suffered with porpoising.[76]

In October 2024, FIA announced that the downforce reduction of the 2026 cars compared to the 2022–2025 generation of cars would be less than initially proposed for performance and safety reasons.[77] Later in the month, the FIA confirmed that the reduction in downforce from the 2026 generation of cars would be around 15%, a significantly smaller reduction than the originally drafted regulations which the FIA claimed had given the 2026 cars downforce reduction of over 40% compared to their predecessors. This will make the 2026 cars approximately two seconds slower a lap than the 2022–2025 generation of cars rather than the four seconds slower initially envisaged.[78] On 17 December 2025, Formula One announced the official terms describing features of the 2026 cars. The term "boost mode" will be used to describe the normal deployment of the energy recovery system (ERS) to defend or attack; "active aerodynamics" (or simply "active aero") to describe the moveable front and rear wing elements – in both higher and lower drag/downforce configuration; "recharge" to describe when a car is harvesting electrical energy; and "overtake mode" to describe a mode where extra energy stored is used in order to help one driver overtake another, but only if the driver behind is within one second of the one ahead (similar to pre-2026 DRS deployment rules).[79][80]

The regulations for the front impact structure (FIS) will be updated with the intent to enhance safety during crashes. A two-stage FIS design has been introduced to address previous issues where the structure detached near the survival cell after a primary collision, leaving the vehicle vulnerable to further impacts. Side intrusion protection, particularly around the cockpit and fuel cell will also be improved. These upgrades aim to shield critical areas of the car during side collisions, while maintaining the vehicle's weight. The roll hoop's strength will be improved, withstanding loads increased from 16g to 20g, aligning with safety standards of other single-seater series. The load testing requirements will be raised from 141 kN to 167 kN.[81] To further safeguard drivers and track marshals, lateral safety lights will be mandated. These lights will display the energy recovery system (ERS) status of a car when it stops on track, providing visual indicators of potential electrical risks, especially in emergency situations.[81]

The rules surrounding the permanent driver numbering system introduced in 2014 will be modified. Drivers will be permitted to change their race number during their careers pending permission from the FIA and any past driver that may have used a requested number.[82][83]

In order to discourage teams leaving excessive amounts of exposed black carbon on their cars in order to save weight, the FIA will mandate that a minimum of 55% of the surface area when viewed from the side and above must be covered by painted or stickered liveries.[84]

Driver cooling vests will be mandated when the FIA declares a heat hazard during a race weekend. Prior to 2026, the cooling vest was optional. Additionally, the vest will undergo a redesign.[85]

For 2026, stewards will have the option to initiate a review based on new evidence. Under the previous version of the ISC, a competitor had to submit a right of review request for any decision to be reviewed. The option for competitors to submit a right of review remains in place. Additionally, an "out of competition" stewards panel will be introduced for time sensitive decisions that cannot wait until the next event.[86]

Three pre-season tests were held, a significant expansion over previous years' testing programs to account for the new chassis and engine regulations.[87] The first was a private test which took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from 26 to 30 January, with teams allowed to run in a maximum of three of the five days. All teams ran in the private test except Williams.[56][88] Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) set the fastest time in the five-day test.[89] The second test was held at the Bahrain International Circuit from 11–13 February, with Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) setting the fastest time in the three-day test.[90] The third test was also held at the same venue from 18–20 February, with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) setting the fastest time across the three-day test.[56][91]