2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed preview: the hillcimb, tickets and how to watch

More than 200,000 racing fans are expected to descend on Goodwood House this summer for the annual Festival of Speed — a high-octane four-day garden party that showcases and celebrates the very best of motor sport’s past, present and future.

In 2026, the theme is “The Rivals — Epic Racing Duels,” centred on two landmark anniversaries: 50 years since James Hunt‘s title-deciding battle with Niki Lauda, and 60 years since Ford’s GT40s ended Ferrari‘s dominance at Le Mans with a historic 1-2-3 finish.

The three Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk IIs are set to reunite on Goodwood Hill for the first time in a decade, while the Hunt-Lauda rivalry will be marked elsewhere across the weekend.

In addition, the 2026 Festival of Speed will also celebrate a run of other significant motor sport milestones, including Damon Hill‘s 1996 World Championship (30 years on), Ducati’s centenary as the most successful marque in World Superbike history, and an Americana Celebration marking 250 years since the US Declaration of Independence alongside anniversaries for the Indy 500, Pikes Peak, Can-Am and Trans-Am.

Here is everything we know so far about the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

• Where can I buy tickets for the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed?
• Where is the Festival of Speed?
• Getting there by public transport
• Which day of Festival of Speed is best?
• Main car manufacturers featured at the Festival of Speed
• How to watch the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed
• 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed full schedule
• What F1 cars will be at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed?
• The Hillclimb
• Weekend highlights

Tickets for 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed

All tickets to the 2026 FOS include roving access around the Goodwood House grounds, allowing you to get up close and personal with some of motor sport’s greatest machines and their drivers.

Buy tickets here.

General Admission 

Demand for the 2026 Festival of Speed has been characteristically high.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday general admission tickets have already sold out, leaving Thursday as the only day still open for standard booking. Roving Grandstand passes, which give access to all 12 public grandstands around the hillclimb, are also still available to add to a Thursday ticket.

For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the only remaining route in is through one of Goodwood’s hospitality packages, which range from premium dining and lounge experiences to private enclosure access.

All admission tickets, including Thursday’s, now include access to the new FOS Fan Zone.

Hospitality tickets

There are a multitude of hospitality packages available to book over the FOS weekend — with each promising entertainment, gourmet dining and quality hospitality alongside great views of the hillclimb and opportunities to meet visiting stars.

The Surtees Pavilion is Goodwood’s own hospitality package and includes catering supplied by a Michelin Star chef, a private mixologist, and private enclosure access as well as superb views of the hillclimb.

Where is the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place at Goodwood House, the ancestral estate of the Duke of Richmond, nestled in the rolling hills of West Sussex, England.

Located just outside the village of Goodwood near Chichester — roughly 70 miles south of London — the event transforms the estate’s sweeping driveway and surrounding parkland into one of motor sport’s most beloved arenas.

It’s a quintessentially British setting that perfectly frames the roar of engines against a backdrop of manicured countryside.

Getting to the Goodwood Festival of Speed by public transport

Getting to Goodwood by public transport is straightforward enough. The nearest train station is Chichester, well connected to London Victoria and Brighton, with the journey from London taking around 90 minutes.

From Chichester, shuttle buses run directly to the Goodwood estate during the festival – a ride of about 15 minutes.

It’s worth checking the official Goodwood website closer to the event for confirmed shuttle timetables and any travel updates.

Which day of Festival of Speed is best?

The honest answer is that it depends on what you’re after.

Thursday is the quietest day and worth considering only if you’re a die-hard who wants more time in the paddock, though many cars remain covered early in the day.

Friday is the sweet spot for those who want to soak up the atmosphere without the biggest crowds – the cars are running, the paddock is accessible, and you can actually move around.

Saturday is the most electric day, drawing the largest crowds and the biggest names, with the hillclimb in full swing.

Sunday has a special appeal of its own thanks to the Shoot-out — the day’s fastest runs compete head-to-head to set the overall fastest time of the festival, making it a thrilling finale.

Main car manufacturers featured at the Festival of Speed

The Festival of Speed has long been a showcase for the world’s most iconic car manufacturers, and 2026 is no different.

From the prancing horse of Ferrari to the three-pointed star of Mercedes, the event draws the full spectrum of motor sport royalty.

Porsche, McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Red Bull Racing are among the marques that regularly make the pilgrimage to West Sussex, bringing everything from vintage hillclimb legends to cutting-edge Formula 1 machinery.

In recent years, electric vehicle makers such as Rimac and Hyundai have also become prominent fixtures, reflecting the industry’s shifting gears, quite literally, toward an electric future.

How to watch 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed: Live stream and TV

If you can’t make it in person, you can see all of the weekend’s action on the live-stream from Thursday to Sunday. This should be available on the Motor Sport site. Check back for full details closer to the event.

A highlights package is often available on TV as well.

2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed — full schedule coming soon

Four action-packed days of hillclimbs, rallying and demo runs will begin on Thursday 9 July and run until Sunday 12 July — with the full schedule of events set to be released over the coming months.

Based on 2025’s schedule, here’s what you could expect on each day, with visitors allowed into the grounds from 7am onwards.

Thursday

The Duke of Richmond traditionally marks the opening day with a ceremony before the first batches of cars climb the Goodwood Hill, followed by timed practice later in the afternoon. In 2025, Thursday also included a balcony tribute to five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell, a Red Arrows display, and a clutch of manufacturer debuts as the Bonhams Auction got underway.

Friday

Friday typically sees more car categories take to the hillclimb, alongside further sessions of the Bonhams Auction. In 2025, the day’s standout moment on the balcony belonged to four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty, while the Forest Rally Stage opened for the weekend with a mix of current WRC machinery and rally cars from the Group B era.

Saturday

The weekend’s action traditionally builds towards qualifying for Sunday’s Timed Shoot-Out, with class winners decided on Saturday afternoon. It’s also the best day to catch autographs and photos from the Top Paddock, with motorsport’s biggest stars regularly appearing across the weekend. In 2025, Saturday brought one of the most remarkable Goodwood balcony moments yet, when at least seven Formula 1 world champions appeared together.

Sunday

‘Shoot-Out Sunday’ is traditionally dominated by the final and fastest runs up the Goodwood Hill. In 2025, Romain Dumas claimed his fourth Timed Shoot-Out title in the Ford Supertruck, holding off a strong challenge from Scott Speed in the Subaru Project Midnight. Sunday’s balcony was reserved for four-time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost, who drove the McLaren MP4/4 in which he won three of his seven 1988 grand prix victories.

What F1 cars will be at 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed?

Formula 1 will once again have a major presence at the 2026 Festival of Speed, following on from 2025’s F1 75 celebrations.

Rather than a single historical showcase, this year’s F1 content is built team by team, tying into the “Rivals” theme – and five teams have confirmed their plans so far.

Williams was first to announce, bringing Damon Hill’s title-winning FW18 to mark 30 years since his 1996 championship, with Hill sharing driving duties across the weekend with team principal James Vowles, reserve driver Luke Browning and F1 Academy adviser Jamie Chadwick.

McLaren will celebrate Lando Norris‘s world title with the 2023-spec MCL60, alongside two heritage cars: the MP4/8 that gave Ayrton Senna his final grand prix win in 1993, and the rarely-seen Lamborghini-engined MP4/8B development car. McLaren is also bringing James Hunt’s 1976 title-winning M23, marking 50 years since his championship, a direct link to this year’s central theme.

Ferrari is marking 75 years since its first F1 victory, José Froilán González’s win at the 1951 British Grand Prix, through to Lewis Hamilton‘s first win for the team at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. Specific cars and drivers are yet to be confirmed, but Ferrari’s presence is described as central to the Rivals theme – Niki Lauda’s 312T was, after all, the car that fought Hunt’s McLaren in 1976.

Aston Martin will run its 2025 challenger, the AMR25, with reserve driver Jak Crawford and Jessica Hawkins sharing the Hill duties.

Alpine will field both its 2026 race drivers, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, in the team’s 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix-winning E20, alongside F1 Academy and junior drivers across the weekend.

More teams are expected to confirm their plans in the coming weeks.

The Goodwood Hillclimb

The schedule for this year’s highly-anticipated Goodwood Hillclimb has not yet been released, but it will likely contain hundreds of makes and models broken down into different categories or ‘batches’.

Based on last year’s running, entrants could include legends from Le Mans and F1 as well as concept cars and high-powered EVs.

McMurtry Automotive returned to Goodwood in 2025 hoping to beat its own outright hillclimb record, but its Spéirling fan car fell short, posting 40.056 seconds — still some way off the 39.081-second benchmark Max Chilton set in the same car back in 2022.

Will 2026 finally produce something quick enough to topple it?

Goodwood Hillclimb — Fastest ever times

Weekend highlights

From head-to-head F1 shootouts to star-studded driver appearances, there are expected to be many highlights across the 2026 Festival of Speed. Little is confirmed as of yet, but be sure to check back to this page for updates on what to look out for over the course of the four-day weekend.