F1 world drivers’ champions

Cadillac

First entry 2026 Australian / Races entered 0 / Constructors’ titles 0 / Drivers’ titles 0 / 2026 car MAC-26-Ferrari

Of all the unknowns on this year’s grid, none come with more unanswered questions than Cadillac. ‘America’s Newest Team’ – a statement that must grate with neighbours Haas – really is brand new. There’s been no takeovers here, no rebranding, it’s a ground-up operation that’s newly staffed and based in a mixture of Indiana, North Carolina and Silverstone, all assembled (somehow!) in less than a year. Heavily backed by General Motors, the team will begin life using a customer Ferrari engine (well, it wasn’t going to choose Ford, was it?!) but has aspirations to become a full engine manufacturer by 2029.

At the head of it all is Briton Graeme Lowdon (remember him from Manor-Marussia?). Bold moves, as was revealing its livery during the Superbowl LX. The car is titled MAC, standing for Mario Andretti Cadillac as a tribute to its 1978 world champion ambassador. Drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez share a combined 527 grand prix starts and 16 wins.

11 Sergio Pérez

Born January 1990, Mexico
Starts 281
Wins 6 / Podiums 39 / Poles 3
Notable achievements
2023 second, 2022 third, 2010 GP2 Series second, 2007 British F3 International Series National Class champion

77 Valtteri Bottas

Born August 1989, Finland
Starts 246
Wins 10 / Podiums 67 / Poles 20
Notable achievements
2021 third, 2020 second, 2019 second, 2017 third, 2011 GP3 Series champion

How to get on the grid in 366 days

Cadillac has shifted mountains to make its way to the grid this season, with rapid development needed to make the start of the season. Marcus Simmons visits the new team at Silverstone to find out how they did it

When Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez head out onto Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit for the Australian Grand Prix on March 8, it will be exactly one year and a day since Cadillac finally gained formal approval from Formula 1 to join the grid at the pinnacle of motor sport.

That long and convoluted process, which reached fruition on March 7, 2025, has been well documented. The apparent obstacles caused anger and dismay in some quarters, and even an antitrust investigation in the US, but all the while work was ongoing to set up the operation and recruit the staff required. On the eve of Cadillac’s debut, team principal Graeme Lowdon is philosophical about what might be construed as an ordeal. “The evaluation process itself was incredibly thorough, and rightly so,” he reflects.

Lowdon, of course, has history in F1. He was a big player in a previous F1 start-up: the Manor team that joined the grid as Virgin in 2010. Since he and Manor founder John Booth siphoned themselves away from that squad at the end of 2015, they spent a couple of years competing in the World Endurance Championship, while Lowdon did “a lot of consulting for either Formula 1 teams or people who were buying or selling Formula 1 teams, or putting them into administration. I got heavily involved in a whole bunch of transactions, including the Force India to Racing Point to what is now Aston Martin, and I was the sole F1 adviser for Dorilton on their acquisition of Williams.”

Cadillac F1 car on track — Silverstone shakedown for Cadillac in January: “The first lap of something bigger” read the Cadillac F1 post on X

Cadillac F1

As a result of this work, he was cold-called on behalf of the Andretti family who were initially fronting what became the Cadillac F1 project. “I understood the process and had a good idea of what was important,” explains Lowdon of how he was taken on board, “and part of the advice was that it helps enormously if you actually just start building the team, for two reasons. One: there’s a big mismatch between the timeline for an entry process, and what you actually need to do. If you wait until you get an entry, it’s almost impossible to be on the grid. Secondly, the more you do, the more you invest, the more seriously people are going to take the proposition, and also the less risk there is for those that need to make a decision about whether such a team should be allowed an entry or not. You’re showing in concrete terms that you have the capability to go ahead and build a complete F1 team.

“Previous FIA entry processes had lasted on average about 17 or 18 weeks, and this one we were a good couple of years into it before the entry was approved. I never doubted that the proposition would get an entry because it was just so compelling. I just could not see any way that any sane decision would go against it. But it’s one thing knowing something would get accepted; it’s another knowing how long it would take.”

It wasn’t until after an agreement in principle had been reached with F1, in November 2024, that Lowdon was named publicly as Cadillac’s team principal. But he had already been given this title on the original submission approved by the FIA in 2023. “As a team that’s in the process we couldn’t talk externally at all,” he recalls. “That was part of the condition.”

“There wasn’t time to talk about everything for weeks on end”

They couldn’t talk, but they were busy hiring. One of the early big names to arrive, during that limbo between FIA approval and F1 finally giving the green light, was Pat Symonds. Poaching F1’s own chief technical officer at the height of a stand-off with that organisation may not have gone down too well, and Symonds, who takes the role of executive engineering director, is joined by fellow Renault/Alpine alumni Nick Chester and Rob White. Of Symonds, who had a spell with the Manor F1 team, Lowdon laughs: “He was actually one of the people that we had to submit our proposal to, so I’d like to think that he took one look and thought, ‘Blimey, these guys know what they’re doing,’ so it made it a much easier conversation when I had a chat with him! I think Pat’s on record saying that he enjoys being on the competitive side of the sport.

“Nick is our technical director and Rob is our chief operating officer, and both have massive tasks. A few years ago there were five of us in an office in Banbury and a couple of sheets of A4 paper and not even a screwdriver. Rob’s doing an amazing job because we’re building factories, we’re not just building race cars, and on the operations side he’s responsible for the racing car and also the factories in which the cars are being built and will be built in the future, and that’s on both sides of the Atlantic.”

This has, indeed, been an enormous undertaking, with construction of the new Cadillac F1 facility at Silverstone, work carried out at the General Motors facility in Charlotte and Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, and a new US base at Fishers, Indiana in build. All while putting together a team of 600 people.

“Much of what we do is centred on the ways Ferrari operates”

Key to the last of those tasks has been the recruitment of former Haas team manager Peter Crolla, who is taking on the same role at Cadillac, joking that he’s the go-to man “for American-owned Formula 1 start-ups!” Crolla was initially approached by Marc Hynes, Lowdon’s partner in their Equals Management company (which looks after Cadillac reserve Zhou Guanyu), and started work in April 2025.

“One thing I was keen to firm up with Graeme during our early discussions was that time is going to be absolutely critical, and we need a minimum of nine months to build an operational team, which we have,” relates Crolla. “Everything needs to be fast moving, so that agility of decision-making and not needing a board meeting to decide on the size and shape and colour of everything we’re going to do was super-critical.

Cadillac F1 driver in cockpit — Sergio Pérez had the honour of being the first driver on track for Cadillac – at the home of the British GP

Cadillac F1

“I’d say we’re in a good place because the business has afforded us all that ability to make decisions quickly, the financial resources are without question. We’re all here because we know what we’re doing and we know what a good team looks like and operates like. But we were really left to that because there wasn’t time to talk about everything for days and weeks on end.”

Crolla’s responsibilities have lain mostly in pulling together the race team mechanics and garage technicians, together with the travel department. “We were quite aggressive I would say in terms of how we approached recruitment, because we know that there isn’t an abundance of staff that you want on board when you’re setting up a team like this,” he explains. “You want to be picking and choosing the best possible line-up for an organisation, not just taking what’s available.”

Early in the process, Crolla was able to attract Nathan Divey, who formerly worked as number one mechanic at Mercedes to Hynes’ old management client Lewis Hamilton and had moved on to Ferrari. Divey takes the role of chief mechanic, with ex-Williams man Pete Simmons as race team logistics manager. “Working with those two guys, we used the time really effectively by getting on with the recruitment almost immediately, because we wanted the best people,” continues Crolla. “We knew we’d have to wait for notice periods. We caught on that a lot of the teams had got wind of our recruitment possibly reaching their door, and we knew that they were taking steps to try and put people on longer notice periods and longer-term contracts.”

Cadillac confirms Bottas and Pérez for debut 2026 F1 season

Cadillac has officially unveiled Pérez and Bottas as its driver pairing for the brand’s debut in the 2026 F1 season

26th August 2025

By Pablo Elizalde

Meanwhile, work was continuing on Cadillac’s first F1 challenger. Other key names include aero chief Jon Tomlinson, formerly of Williams, and seasoned designer John McQuilliam, an ex-cohort of Lowdon’s at Manor. “Although we’ve had the experimental aero programme running for some time now in the wind tunnel in Cologne, unlike the other teams we cannot verify a single thing we’re doing in that tunnel with a car on track, so that’s been a big challenge,” sighs Lowdon. “But Jon’s really attacked that. John McQuilliam is a fabulous race car designer. He still appears to enjoy it and he takes it seriously – some of the creativity that comes out of the work that John and his team do is fantastic. F1 is still a very creative process. I’m an engineer by training, so I know enough to be dangerous! But I look at what John and his design team produce, and what Rob and his team are building, under Nick’s technical direction, and I think it’s a work of art. Pat is in that position to oversee a lot of things, like a non-executive role, but he’s in there with his sleeves rolled up as well.”

Mario Andretti at Cadillac F1 event — Poacher-turned-gamekeeper-turned-poacher: Pat Symonds was F1’s chief technical officer before joining Cadillac in 2024 as its engineering consultant

AFP via Getty Images

Despite what, on the face of it, appears to be an advantage for Cadillac in not being bound by F1’s aero testing restrictions due to being a new team, the design staff have been operating with serious handicaps. “Because we weren’t an F1 team, we weren’t allowed access to any of the FIA data or regulations or CAD models or whatever,” says Lowdon. “Also we weren’t allowed to have any wind tunnel tyres, because it’s only F1 teams who are allowed those, and we weren’t classed as an F1 team, so we had to make our own. Although we try to get them as close to the Pirellis as possible, it’s impossible to replicate them. We can’t benchmark anything that we’re doing in simulation, whether that’s in the wind tunnel or CFD or driver-in-the-loop simulator [in Charlotte]. But we knew that in advance – our eyes were wide open when we came in.”

“We measure our performance against what is in our control”

Cadillac’s tie-up with Ferrari as engine supplier – until the bespoke engine from GM Performance Power Units comes on stream in 2029 – at least allowed some track activity last autumn. First, there came a trip to Fiorano in October to observe a Testing of Previous Cars session. “It was really useful, because so much of what we do is centred on Ferrari PU, Ferrari gearbox, and a lot of the ways that Ferrari operates,” reckons Crolla. “We had an FIA observer with us so that they could ensure that we did everything that we said we were going to do, which for that test was just to observe. It gave us that advance notice so that when we ran the car, we’d seen how Ferrari operates on PU and gearbox matters.”

The following month came Cadillac’s own TPC test at Imola, with Pérez at the wheel of a 2023 Ferrari, which Crolla describes as “incredibly valuable. It took a lot of preparation, there were a lot of hoops for us to jump through from a regulatory perspective, but the main reason was to give our team experience of working together for the first time. What we needed to do was start practising our own Cadillac operating procedures and protocols. It was low-pressure, we had the circuit booked to ourselves, and it allowed everybody to go at the pace of the group naturally.

“It was good mileage for Sergio because he’d been out of the car for a while, but primarily from an operations perspective it was about our team working together.”

Cadillac F1 test with carbon fiber sled — Pérez and Valtteri Bottas were named as Cadillac’s inaugural drivers last summer. American Colton Herta was considered; he’s test driver for ’26

At the same time, sea freight was already being sent on its way to Melbourne for the opening race of 2026. It’s the kind of thing you’d never think of if you weren’t working for an F1 team, but it’s just another string to the Crolla bow: “When I started on the project in April, the first thing I did was start ordering sea freight assets, because you need so many of them – race team sea freight, hospitality sea freight, overseas hospitality sea freight, Paddock Club sea freight, it’s a massive operation. We’ve got six sets. The first two left us in November, which was for Australia and Bahrain. China and Japan left us in December, which leaves two sets to start using for pre-season. Pulling six sets of complete sea freight together in the time that they had was nothing short of brilliant – I’m proud of what the team did.”

Comparing his experience of Haas, which joined the grid in 2016, Crolla says the Cadillac set-up is “really a scale matter. The sport has grown a lot since the transfer of ownership [to Liberty] in 2017.” For Lowdon and his own benchmark of Manor’s 2010 entry, “the biggest difference is the regulatory framework is significantly clearer. Back in ’09 it was almost weekly we’d meet with Bernie [Ecclestone] and the cost cap would change, the income would go down, the cap limit would increase, and then there was no cap and there was going to be a Resource Restriction Agreement, and that turned out to be something that some thought existed and others quite clearly just ignored. In comparison to the stability now, it was remarkable the challenge last time round.

Cadillac F1 team executive — Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon was previously CEO at Virgin and Marussia; he was hired in December 2024

Getty Images

“Also, one thing that’s humbling and really nice to see is that a lot of people involved in that have come back to join this project out of choice. We’ve kind of openly said that we want to create a team that everybody wants to join, and the people who are in it are proud to be in it and they want to stay in it. That’s what we had with Manor as well. We had that strong team spirit, which we needed because it’s such a difficult game. This is a proper race team. It’s not a corporate entity, but we proudly carry the brand and they’re an enormous global presence and they have this incredible history of innovation and racing. We’re trying to build on that.”

But will that team be one that makes an immediate splash? Since long-time Andretti partner Dan Towriss and his TWG Motorsports company moved forward to front up the project and help push its blessing from F1 over the line, there has been talk over how it’ll fare.

Cadillac F1 car at speed — Pérez remarked that his Cadillac drive at Silverstone was an emotional moment

Cadillac F1

Lowdon chuckles: “We could come up with a rocket ship, and there could be 10 teams that come up with a better rocket ship. The main thing is, we measure our performance primarily against what is in our control, and how well we’ve performed against that.

“We are well backed between TWG Motorsport and GM – we’ve got incredible financial backing and technical support and platform. We’ve got no excuses from that side, but equally there are a whole raft of things that are outside of our control, and we’re not going to beat ourselves up on them. We have no idea where we’re going to start, but we want to maximise our growth as a team as quickly as we can.” You might say that would be Cadillac’s Eldorado.

“Andretti Cadillac F1 team at HQ — The Andretti Global Facility opened at Silverstone in 2024. The project has since been rebranded

It started with a phone call

For Graeme Lowdon, his journey to becoming team principal at Cadillac F1 began with a conversation with Mario Andretti – who, despite his age, remains a dynamo of energy…

“I was driving down the A1, and I got a call from someone whose opinion I respect, and they said, ‘Would you take a call from the group that are involved with Andretti looking at F1?’”

That’s Graeme Lowdon talking of his introduction to the Cadillac project he now fronts.

“This was on the tail end of when they were looking to originally buy Sauber, and that didn’t work out, so they decided they wanted to look at a new entry,” he continues. “We had a call – the backers of the project were on it, as were Michael and Mario Andretti. My involvement began with advising them on how to go through the entry process to F1. And I remember that call ended with Mario saying, ‘OK this sounds good – you know how the process works.’

“When you’ve got the 1978 world champion telling you something like that, it sticks in your mind. I remember thinking, ‘I’d better not let him down!’”

Andretti VIP at F1 paddock — Lowdon’s initial involvement was advising Michael Andretti, *pictured*, and Mario on how to get into F1

Although Michael Andretti’s well-documented personality clash with former Liberty CEO Greg Maffei didn’t help the team’s prospects of approval, father Mario is still involved with Cadillac, the 85-year-old holding an ambassadorial role. Lowdon is a successful man in a high-pressure world, but allows an endearing glimpse of a man who was a schoolboy fan of F1 when he discusses Mario.

“You can tell a world champion when you’re talking to them, you can tell a racer,” he says. “He’s still a hugely competitive spirit, and a guy with a huge amount of energy, and what’s clear is a love of F1. It’s cool when you look back at the history of what he did; he did that because he loved F1, when he was racing on both sides of the Atlantic, just racing everything going but moving heaven and earth to be involved because he had that love from a very early age – and it’s still there and it’s quite infectious.”

That, of course, was instilled in Andretti and twin brother Aldo as young boys in Italy before their family emigrated. “That crawling under the fence at Monza and watching the cars, that’s what gave him the spark and fuelled it all,” smiles Lowdon. “For me, that twinkle’s still there in his eyes. We talk every so often. It’s good; we’re a racing team, we’re not a corporate conglomerate, so we should have those conversations.”

Bottas on Cadillac’s F1 reality check: learn, finish races, don’t be last

Cadillac will need to lean on the experience of its drivers this season

cadillac f1 Cadillac’s Formula 1 project has officially moved from theory to reality, and its expectations remain deliberately modest. After completing its first shakedown at Silverstone and joining the rest of the field for the opening days of 2026 testing in Barcelona, the American team’s new driver line-up has been clear-eyed about what success looks like in year one.

“We are being realistic,” Valtteri Bottas tells Motor Sport. “The main thing is to get a reliable car to start with and finish the races, and try not to be last, and that’s already a starting point.”

Cadillac arrived in Spain having already logged its first miles at Silverstone, a major milestone for a team built from scratch in a relatively short space of time under F1’s sweeping new technical regulations.

Now running alongside established outfits for the first time, the focus has shifted from launch deadlines to learning curves.

The team’s initial driver pairing of Bottas and Sergio Pérez boasts 16 grand prix victories and experience across six different established teams, a deliberate strategy, according to team principal Graeme Lowdon.

“We prioritised not just experience, but experience with multiple championship-winning teams,” Lowdon explains. “When you bring in a new team, the driver plays a huge role in gelling the engineering group and the garage together. We don’t have to show them where the paddock turnstile is.”

“It’s not really about where we start, it’s about where we end up”

Both drivers are returning to full-time F1 seats after spending 2025 away from the grid.

Bottas acted as Mercedes’ reserve following his exit from Sauber, while Pérez stepped aside after losing his Red Bull seat at the end of 2024.

But they both insist Cadillac was a proactive choice rather than a last resort.

“For me, F1 was always the priority,” Bottas says. “I really believed in this project, and it felt like I was a priority for them as well.”

Pérez echoes that view, revealing he began working with Cadillac as soon as his contract was signed last summer.

“Once it became clear they were coming into F1, it was pretty straightforward,” he says. “This was a project that made me enthusiastic to come back.”

The timing of Cadillac’s entry is widely seen as advantageous, coinciding with new chassis, power units and tyres across the grid in 2026 — an unusual reset that may reduce the typical performance gap facing new teams.

“We all start from zero anyway,” Pérez says. “The regulation changes are huge, especially on the engine side, and that will impact driving styles a lot.”

Still, expectations inside the garage remain intentionally conservative. Points are an ambition rather than an assumption, with progress — rather than position — the key internal benchmark.

“Cadillac should be the team that progresses the most throughout the year,” Pérez says.

Bottas strikes a similar note, underlining that Barcelona’s test represents the beginning of a longer process rather than a verdict on competitiveness. “It’s not that much about where we start,” he says. “It’s about where we end up.”

Cadillac F1 operations center — Peter Crolla joined Cadillac from Haas in early 2025, hitting the ground running

Peak practice

Team manager Peter Crolla recalls Cadillac’s real-time race rehearsals through 2025

Cadillac didn’t have a car last year, but it did have use of General Motors’ simulator in Charlotte, North Carolina. From mid-season on, this allowed the team to hone its procedures by following grand prix weekends in real time – from bases on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

“We had an operations room running in Silverstone, and one in Charlotte,” explains team manager Peter Crolla of what came to be known as ‘rehearsals’. “Each rehearsal project grew – every time we did one, processes were more advanced, communication protocols were more advanced, the technology we had at our disposal was more advanced, and it was a fantastic rate of progression. From the first ones being rough and ready, we looked at and analysed what we were missing, so when the next one came round we were plugging the holes.

“We went from a fairly basic intercom system in the early rehearsals to what I would see as a communication network capable of supporting a full race team. From my side the biggest thing was understanding names, roles, voices, how they speak, and we were quite early in how we defined what our protocols would be in communication over radio and intercom.”

Cadillac F1 driving simulator — This simulator in Charlotte was used to practice under virtual race conditions

Mostly, it was Crolla’s ex-Haas F1 colleague Pietro Fittipaldi or former IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud on the sim. But the virtual track time was only a small part of the process, like in real life.

“Every race weekend we’d carry out all our meetings, we’d have a full schedule, we’d allocate the right activities at the right time, so everybody started getting into a routine,” says Crolla. “Race teams are institutionalised in how they operate, and we like that level of continuity, so we started full race weekends from the start of the programme. We had a simulator operating for every session, but then we also adopted a real team that we followed throughout the sessions. So when it came to races, the team that we’d adopted, we were making calls on when we thought they should make a pitstop, looking at their lap times, tyre degradation, where they were in traffic.”

There were even ‘virtual’ scrutineering documents and parc fermé requests submitted to a phantom FIA, adds Crolla: “To make our lives as hard as possible so we could be best prepared for the real thing.”

F1 world drivers’ champions

Revolution, Not Evolution

This year grand prix racing enters a brand new technical era, with sweeping changes to virtually every area of the cars. Pablo Elizalde runs the rule over the new regulations

Formula 1 this year will have a very different feel and look to it than we’re used to. Cars are smaller, lighter, more punchy.

Liked the divisive Drag Reduction System (DRS) that for the last 15 years has stirred the debate as to whether overtaking had become too easy or enhanced the technical skills of the drivers? Doesn’t matter… it’s gone too.

In its place is a new breed of grand prix cars, with new aero, drastically different chassis, uprated hybrid engines and even a host of new teams and drivers joining the field. To keep you abreast of all that’s new, here’s our handy guide.

The death of DRS

After 15 seasons of rear wing flapping, Formula 1’s drag reduction system (DRS) has been retired in favour of a sophisticated active aerodynamics system.

The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final race where DRS was used, having been introduced during the 2011 season as a solution to the lack of overtaking in the series. It helped reduce the penalty of running in rivals’ ‘dirty air’ — the aerodynamic turbulence that affects the downforce of following cars — thanks to a moveable mechanism on the rear wing that, when activated, opened a flap to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase straight-line speed. It offered a top speed advantage of up to 17mph in some cases. The benefit proved controversial, with allegations that it made passing too easy.

From 2026, DRS will disappear and will be replaced by a more complex system that involves multiple elements. The design features an actuation system on the upper wing elements, enabling a switch to low-drag, low-downforce mode on straights to simulate the upcoming active aerodynamics that will replace DRS.

Dual-mode aerodynamics

This year, F1 cars will feature moveable front and rear wings, each with multiple elements – three for the rear, two for the front – allowing drivers to switch between two distinct modes.

Corner mode: A high-downforce set-up for corners, with wings in their standard, closed positions.
Straight mode: Low-drag set-up for straights, with wings rotated to a reclined position, increasing top speed.

“Unlike DRS, the new active aero can be used by any driver at specific points”

Unlike DRS, which is only available to drivers running within one second of the car ahead and in specific zones, the new active aero system can be activated by any driver at predetermined points on the circuit, regardless of their position relative to other cars.

Drivers will use a button of the steering wheel to switch between modes, but activation will be restricted to designated zones for safety. With the active aero system, both the front and rear wing elements move together to maintain aerodynamic balance. Adjusting only the rear wing (as with DRS) would create instability, so the front wing must also adapt to ensure predictable handling.

While DRS was primarily an overtaking aid, the new active aero system serves the purpose of managing energy consumption, as reducing drag on straights is essential for efficient energy use with power units that will rely much more on their electrical energy components.

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Overtake mode

The freedom of use of the new system could mean that its effects on boosting overtakes are cancelled if the driver running in front decides to use the ‘Straight’ mode at the same time as the driver behind. That’s why a new ‘Overtake’ mode will be introduced as well.

When the driver behind is within one second of a car ahead, they will be able to deploy extra electrical energy (up to 0.5MJ, roughly 67bhp) from the MGU-K with the manual override button. That will produce a DRS-like boost for a short period of time.

The leading car’s energy deployment will taper off after 180mph, while the car behind can use the extra power from Overtake mode up to 209mph. The hope is the speed differential will mimic the effect of the DRS and allow overtaking.

Chassis changes

The 2026 regulations represent the most comprehensive overhaul of technical rules since 2014, emphasising the creation of cars that are smaller, lighter, and more raceable.

The FIA’s approach focuses on reducing overall drag while maintaining cornering performance through active aerodynamic systems. For the first time in over two decades, F1 cars will become significantly lighter, with the minimum weight reduced from 800 kilograms to 768 kilograms.

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Dimensional changes include a 200mm wheelbase reduction from 3600mm to 3400mm and a 100mm width decrease to 1900mm. These changes are aimed at making the cars more responsive and better suited to close racing, addressing criticisms that cars had become too wide and heavy, particularly for narrow circuits. The new chassis regulations will allow teams more aerodynamic freedom than initially planned, after feedback that early concepts were too restrictive and could make the cars too slow.

Downforce levels are expected to be reduced by 30% and drag by 55% compared to last year’s cars, meaning less reliance on ground effect and more on the clever use of active wings in the hope of having cars that are more raceable.

The introduction of active aerodynamics – allowing drivers to switch between high-downforce (corner mode) and low-drag (straight mode) – is designed to improve straight-line speed, reduce fuel consumption, and allow drivers to follow each other more closely through corners.

Tyres will also be narrower by 25mm (front) and 30mm (rear), although the current 18-inch rim size will remain unchanged. The diameter of the tyres will also decrease from 720mm to 705-710mm. The new Pirelli tyres were already tested on track by Aston Martin late in 2024 ahead of their introduction in 2026.

Visually, the 2026 F1 cars are expected to look sleeker, narrower, and more compact out on track.

Year(s)	Min. weight (kg)	Notes/Regulation Changes
1961–1965	450	First official minimum introduced (1.5L engines)
1966–1972	500	Minimum increased with 3.0L engines
1973–1980	575
1981–1982	585
1983–1987	540	Turbo era
1988	540
1989–1993	500
1994	505
1995–2008	595	Driver weight included from 1995
2009	605
2010	620	Refuelling banned
2011–2012	640	KERS widely used
2013	642
2014	691	Hybrid V6 engines introduced
2015–2016	702	Anti-intrusion panels added
2017	728	Wider wheels and tyres
2018	734	Halo safety device introduced
2019	743	80kg driver allowance
2020	746	Second fuel flow meter added
2021	752
2022–2024	798	18-inch wheels, ground effect cars
2025	800	82kg driver allowance
2026	768	Chassis and tyre mass reduced, new regulations

Mercedes F1 hybrid power unit — Rivals have complained about Mercedes’ PU and its compression ratio

Engines

The new power unit regulations represent the most significant overhaul since the introduction of hybrid engines in 2014.

These changes aim to improve raceability and enhance sustainability as they closely align the series with broader automotive industry trends. Below is a detailed analysis of the key technical shifts and their implications compared to the current generation of engines.

1. Power unit architecture

Redesigned hybrid system

The 2026 engines retain the 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged internal combustion engine (ICE) but eliminate the Motor Generator Unit-Heat (MGU-H), a component that recovers energy from exhaust gases. This helps simplify the power unit and reduce costs, but introduces challenges in managing turbo lag, as the MGU-H previously spooled the turbocharger.

To compensate, the MGU-K (Kinetic Motor Generator Unit) has its output nearly tripled from 120kW to 350kW, enabling it to provide both energy recovery and torque fill during acceleration.

Power distribution

Previous ICE dominance: around 80% ICE (550–560kW) vs 20% electric (120kW). The 2026 balance: Near 50-50 split between ICE (400kW) and electric (350kW). Total power remains similar at around 750kW (1006bhp), but the electrification shift aligns F1 with road-car sustainability goals.

2. Energy recovery and deployment

Enhanced recuperation

Energy recovery during braking doubles from 4MJ to 8.5MJ per lap, with the MGU-K solely responsible for harvesting. This forces teams to optimise mechanical braking systems and energy deployment strategies. The removal of the MGU-H eliminates around 60% of the previous energy recovery capacity, requiring innovative solutions to maintain efficiency.

Manual override mode

A new ‘Override Mode’ allows drivers to deploy an extra 0.5MJ of energy when within one second of a rival, mimicking the KERS push-to-pass system used from 2009–2013. This aims to improve overtaking by granting following cars a 350kW burst up to 337km/h.

Turbo lag and energy management

Without the MGU-H, turbo response delays could necessitate using the MGU-K to spool the turbocharger, consuming precious electrical energy. Simulations suggest cars may face ‘lift-and-coast’ scenarios on power-sensitive circuits like Monza if energy management is suboptimal.

3. Sustainability and fuel innovations

100% sustainable fuels

Engines will use fully sustainable fuels derived from non-food biomass, municipal waste, or carbon capture. This replaces the current E10 blend (10% ethanol) and eliminates fossil carbon emissions produced by the cars. The FIA’s fuel certification scheme ensures compliance with strict greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Specification	Previous generation (2014-2025)	2026 generation
Internal combustion engine power	550-560 kW (736-750 hp)	400 kW (536 hp)
Electric power (MGU-K)	120 kW (161 hp)	350 kW (469 hp)
Total power	750 kW (1,006 hp)	750 kW (1,006 hp)
Electric power share	16%	47%
MGU-H System	Yes (MGU-H present)	No (MGU-H removed)
Energy recovery per lap	4 MJ per lap	8.5 MJ per lap
Fuel flow rate	100 kg/h (mass flow)	3,000 MJ/h (energy flow)
Fuel type	10% sustainable fuel (E10)	100% sustainable fuel
Minimum weight (ICE)	145 kg (includes MGU-K MGU-H)	130 kg (excludes MGU-K)
Turbocharger Max RPM	125,000 rpm	150,000 rpm
Engine Max RPM	15,000 rpm	15,000 rpm

Which engine every F1 team will use in 2026

McLaren – Mercedes

McLaren will continue to use Mercedes power units for the 2026 season and beyond. The team renewed its partnership with Mercedes-Benz in 2023, securing a deal that extends through to the end of the 2030 season.

Red Bull – Red Bull Powertrains

Red Bull will use its own power units through the creation of Red Bull Ford Powertrains. This year marks the debut of Red Bull’s own in-house power unit, developed at its Milton Keynes facility in partnership with Ford, which is returning to Formula 1 as a technical partner after a two-decade absence.

Ferrari

As it has during the entire history of Formula 1, Ferrari will continue to use and supply its own power units.

Mercedes

Like Ferrari, Mercedes will be powered by its own engines in 2026.

Williams – Mercedes

Williams will continue to use Mercedes power units from the 2026 season onwards, having extended its long-standing partnership through at least the end of 2030.

Racing Bulls

Like sister team Red Bull, Racing Bulls will use the Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine in 2026.

Haas – Ferrari

Haas will again use Ferrari power units. The American team extended its technical partnership with Ferrari through the end of the 2028 season.

Aston Martin – Honda

Aston Martin is another team that will change engine supplier in 2026, switching to Honda power units in an exclusive full works partnership with the Japanese manufacturer.

Audi

The Sauber team has become Audi’s works F1 squad and will therefore switch from Ferrari to Audi engines for the German manufacturer’s maiden season in F1.

Alpine – Mercedes

Alpine will use Mercedes power units and gearboxes from 2026 onward after signing a multi-year agreement that runs at least until the end of 2030. This marks a major Shift for the team, as Renault has cancelled its F1 engine programme.

Cadillac – Ferrari

Cadillac will join the F1 field as the 11th team and will use Ferrari engines and gearboxes for its First three seasons (2026–2028) before switching to a power unit from parent company GM.

Cars will be slower

Formula 1 bosses have pushed back against suggestions that the 2026 cars will drift towards Formula 2-level performance, but they are clear on one point: this year’s machinery will be slower, and that’s entirely by design.

FIA single-seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis dismissed some driver claims about the cars having F2-like pace, stressing that current simulations put the new season’s cars roughly one to two seconds slower than last year’s.

He also made no attempt to hide the underlying reality: the start of every major rules cycle brings an intentional performance reset. “I think comments about Formula 2 pace are way off the mark,” Tombazis said last year. “We are talking about laptimes overall, which are in the region of one or two seconds off where we are now, depending on the track, depending on the conditions. And, obviously, at the start of a cycle, it would be silly to be faster than the previous cycle. It would cost us nothing from a regulations point of view, it would be very easy to make the cars go faster.

“But one has to gradually claw back what is gained by natural development. So you can’t start the cycle going faster than the previous one. Then, you know, in 20 years from now, you can imagine what would happen. So I think it’s natural that the cars are a bit slower, but I don’t think we are anywhere near the ‘it’s not a Formula 1 car’ discussion.”

Slowing the cars is the only way to stop each era ending with speeds the championship can no longer safely contain.

Formula 1’s performance curve always rises as a set of rules matures. Teams refine aerodynamic concepts, understand how to exploit grey areas, and unlock efficiencies that the original regulations never predicted.

If each cycle began faster than the one before, that curve would quickly spiral into something unmanageable. That’s part of the reason why the FIA builds in a reset at the start of each era. The 2009, 2014 and 2022 overhauls all delivered slower cars initially before development rapidly clawed back the deficit. For the governing body, the reset is a tool to control long-term speed escalation while still allowing teams the freedom to innovate.

Circuit limits and cornering speeds

The most fundamental constraint is physical: the circuits themselves. Modern F1 cars spend huge portions of the lap in high-speed corners, producing lateral forces that push the limits of what drivers, tyres and safety infrastructure can handle.

Increasing downforce year after year eventually forces the FIA to intervene, either by redesigning the tracks or rebalancing the cars. That’s why the 2022 rules were introduced in the First place: the 2017–21 cars had become so aerodynamically extreme that the championship risked outgrowing its venues. A smaller, slightly slower starting point was necessary to keep cornering speeds in check. The 2026 technical package continues that logic. Under the new hybrid regulations, laptimes will vary more sharply depending on how easily a circuit allows the power unit to harvest and deploy energy.

Red Bull’s Paul Monaghan explained that the difference will be central to interpreting 2026 pace. “We have what we might term energy-rich circuits and energy-poor circuits,” Monaghan explained last season. “So it’s easier to fill the energy store on some tracks. And then the laptime is a little bit slower. Some of the poorer ones, we’re struggling a little bit at the moment – we’re a bit more than that off. But one of the great difficulties at the moment is trying to actually establish how much grip we’re going to have. We can have an aero map, and it says we’ll make this level of downforce – is it actually reality? So, yes, they’ll be a little bit slower. I don’t think we’ll be Formula 2-paced. I hope not. So that’s where we would be.”

Tyres: the biggest unknown

The new cars began development before the final Pirelli tyres were signed off, leaving a major source of uncertainty baked into every simulation.

“Once we have the final tyres from Pirelli, maybe they’re a little bit better, a little bit worse,” Monaghan said. “And it has quite a knock-on effect to your overall laptime.”

Mercedes’ deputy technical director Simone Resta added that even with mule-car testing, teams still don’t have a definitive answer on how the tyres will behave with the new chassis and power unit. “There’s a lot to learn in every area, including electronics, the new control unit and so on,” he said.

Grip levels alone could shift laptime by multiple seconds across a race weekend, a reminder that the tyres have the potential to define more of the performance window than aerodynamics or engine power alone.

Red Bull Racing F1 car underbody illustration — 2025: Venturi tunnels encouraged downforce grip

Red Bull Racing F1 car underbody modified illustration — 2026: Flat floor means ground effect is greatly reduced

Slower doesn’t necessarily mean worse

The consistent message from engineers is that while 2026 will begin with slower cars, that’s not a downgrade. It’s an opportunity.

“With these cars, we keep thinking we’re approaching the asymptote, and then we go and find new avenues to explore,” Monaghan said. “But with a new set of regulations and our new engine as well, there’s all sorts of opportunities to find ways to improve it. I think the scope of work will be quite significant, but the opportunities are big. As long as we can do a half-decent job and keep ourselves in a good shape, we’ll see where we are.”

Resta echoed him: “The best teams will be the ones learning quicker and reacting quicker at the start of the season.”

Shorter braking zones, simplified aero, new energy deployment patterns and the inevitable rapid development curve will all give teams fresh avenues to explore. And soon, possibly before year two of the new rules cycle, the laptime deficit will almost certainly be gone.

Nighttime F1 race with sparks on track — Could this be the end of the classic long straight, late brake overtake?

DPPI

Overtaking rebooted

Overtaking has always been the most analysed, argued-over currency in F1, but 2026 will drag it into an entirely different system.

The championship will enter its first post-DRS era, and for the first time in more than a decade, drivers will no longer have a guaranteed, repeatable passing mechanism. In its place comes something more complex, less predictable and potentially far more human: a race built around energy management, deployment timing, driver-controlled active aerodynamics and a new set of offensive and defensive modes that could redefine what wheel-to-wheel looks like.

While the 2026 rules promise lighter cars, shorter wheelbases, and less turbulent wake – all elements that theoretically promote closer racing – overtaking itself becomes harder to map.

One of the biggest changes underpinning this shift is the new active aerodynamics, with drivers able to switch between a high-downforce configuration for corners and a low-drag, low-downforce configuration for straights. This system will be available on every lap to every driver, effectively giving all competitors a straight-line speed boost rather than a defined overtaking aid.

The adjustment isn’t purely about passing, however – it’s also about managing energy consumption in a power unit era that’s roughly half electric, where minimising drag on the straights can help preserve battery and overall efficiency.

This change means drivers now have an additional strategic layer to master: not just when to harvest and deploy electrical energy, but also when to switch aero modes to maximise their chances of positioning themselves for a move — or defending against one. The new hybrid framework places far more of the workload back into the cockpit.

Drivers will control how much battery they harvest on approach to a corner, how much they deploy on exit, and how aggressively they defend when the car behind chooses to attack. It turns the act of overtaking from something automated into something expressive.

Early driver feedback hints at the scale of the reset. Several have suggested that the classic long-straight, heavy-braking pass might no longer be the default, predicting that moves could appear in what today look like ‘obscure’ corners – places where a rival runs out of electrical energy or misjudges their harvesting. Little lapses in energy timing could be punished instantly. The loss of DRS could force an entirely new vocabulary of moves into existence.

“I think the way the rules are at the moment, they will be busier in the cockpit,” said Williams team boss James Vowles last year. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think you’ll get those that come out on top as a result of it — those that are completely in control of the car and its behaviours and then thinking outside the box.

“The areas that are different… probably the right way of putting it to you is, you can almost fill the entire battery in one braking zone, but you can deplete it in one straight. That’s for sure. And so that creates a very different dynamic to [last] year.”

F1 front wing and nose airflow illustration — Two active flaps on the front wing can be opened, below, to give more speed

F1 rear wing technical illustration — Closed for slow speed but opened, *above*, for low drag – and overtaking

Multi-layered energy racing
Where the current era is built around a simple attacker’s advantage – the car behind gets the drag reduction and can launch a move – the 2026 concept is built on mutual optionality.

Both drivers will have offensive and defensive modes through the lap. The car behind can deploy aggressively to force a gap; the car ahead can answer back with its own defensive squeeze of electrical power. Suddenly, the pass becomes a negotiation rather than a foregone conclusion.

That negotiation is already being felt inside teams. After months of simulator work on early car models, Vowles says drivers went through a rapid evolution in how they understood the new racecraft. “The overtaking will be different, but it will happen,” Vowles explained. “It’ll just be in a different way to what you’re used to. The drivers had a go once and thought, ‘this isn’t great.’ Then the second time, went, ‘that’s interesting.’ Then by the third or fourth time – as they’re race drivers – they were really into it. And there’s a very different way of optimising it as a solution, and they can see how the advantage can come in.”

That idea – that overtaking becomes a learned skill rather than a pre-defined exchange – is central to how teams see 2026 unfolding. As Vowles put it, the learning curve is steep and ongoing. “The challenge is that everything changes. There’s a lot of learning we’re going through almost week by week, especially on the energy side — how do we use it in the most efficient way possible?”

The result is a racing model where overtaking depends less on geography and more on timing. Opportunities may emerge where no one expects them. Conversely, famous passing points may become easier to defend.

Formula 1 steering wheel display with overtake mode active — Drivers can expect to be a lot busier this year, using battery systems to facilitate attack and defence

How overtaking zones might change

One of the most intriguing consequences of the new rules is that circuits could develop ‘dynamic’ overtaking zones – places that only become viable when a driver’s energy window is favourable. Instead of DRS straights being baked into the race narrative, each lap might carry its own set of passing hotspots.

Vowles said that manual energy deployment and active aero will shift overtaking opportunities to unexpected areas. “You’ll probably protect the regions with energy deployment where overtaking is most likely to happen. So, taking Monaco, I think it’s unlikely you’ll get a differential through there. But I think you’ll move away from, say, Spa – your typical overtaking point is, for example, up into Turn 5. That’s one of the main areas. Actually, it opens up the door for a few other areas around that lap.”

That line – “it opens up the door” – is essentially the basis of the new rules. Traditional passing zones may remain important, but they lose their monopoly. The interplay of harvesting, deployment, and active aero could produce opportunities elsewhere, in smaller corners, in rhythm sections, or in places where the delta is created by battery cycles.

Shorter straights, usually dismissed as transitional pieces of a lap, could become overtaking zones. A rival emerging from a technical sequence with insufficient harvest may find themselves vulnerable on even a 200-metre burst to the next braking point.

Drivers have hinted that these ‘non-corners’ and mini-straights might become the real battlegrounds, especially early in the season when teams are still discovering optimal deployment and aero strategies. Even mid-corner behaviour may shift. With the hybrid system’s greater reliance on harvesting under braking and coasting, the energy state of a car at turn-in becomes a tactical variable.

A driver who has harvested aggressively into the previous corner might enjoy better traction on exit; one who has been forced to defend earlier in the lap might be caught flat-footed as the electrical system rebuilds. Suddenly, a corner that has never hosted an overtake might open up for a decisive lunge because one driver’s battery window fell at the wrong moment.

Active aero isn’t just a replacement for DRS – it fundamentally changes how cars approach racing. Drivers will be thinking not just about slipstream and braking points, but about when to toggle aero states and how their energy strategy intersects with those decisions.

“In the early races, chaos is likely as teams experiment with strategies”

Low-drag mode (X-mode) gives a straight-line boost to any car, but it doesn’t automatically guarantee a pass; the balance of energy, tyre wear, and defensive countermeasures will all factor into whether a move succeeds. Together, active aero and energy deployment modes create a fluid, multi-dimensional racecraft, where overtaking windows open and close dynamically across a lap rather than at a few fixed zones.

While no one will know what the reality is until the cars are on track racing each other, all of these factors point to a broader shift in how races might unfold. Packs may stretch and compress depending on energy cycles and aero mode usage. Undercuts could become more potent if a driver can emerge with a replenished battery at the exact point a rival is depleted. Mistakes – even if they are a slightly too-greedy harvest, a poorly judged defensive burst, or incorrect aero mode timing – could have immediate consequences instead of being absorbed by DRS on the next straight.

In the early races, chaos is likely as teams experiment with deployment and aero strategies. Race engineering could become a kind of live maths exercise, with drivers adapting in real time.

The idea of energy-based racing isn’t new. Formula E has spent a decade refining the cat-and-mouse of deployment and harvesting, and its most memorable overtakes often happen in places that only make sense in the context of a rival running out of usable power. F1 is not replicating FE’s format, but the behavioural pattern – timing your attack, bluffing your rival, forcing errors by manipulating energy windows – transfers naturally to what drivers are describing.

The DRS era made overtaking predictable, even procedural. The 2026 era might make it a lot more unpredictable, less frequent at times, but in a way more creative. Instead of waiting for a detection line and a button press, we may see overtakes triggered three corners earlier, or two laps in advance, or in places that have never mattered before. A generation of drivers raised on DRS will need to form new instincts.

The new rules won’t just change how overtakes happen – they might change the psychology and the moments where races pivot. In that uncertainty lies the thing that Formula 1 has arguably lacked most in the DRS era: overtakes that feel surprising again.

Aston Martin F1 team member playing chess

‘Speed chess’ and the new DNA of F1 racing

F1’s new ‘50/50’ power units bring the fiendish problem of how to deploy and harvest electrical energy. It’s the ideal scenario for AI, writes Mark Hughes. F1 is on the brink of a significant evolution

Because the new era ‘50/50’ electric/combustion F1 cars can deliver enormous torque and horsepower, but not for very long continuously, there is a potentially crucial advantage to be had in finding the optimum trade-off between harvesting and deploying the energy. This applies to how the car is configured and set up – but also to the driver. That optimum is going to vary from track to track, day to day, tyre to tyre, surface to surface, to the anticipation of what your rivals might do. It’s going to be a hugely complex equation in real time and very much situation specific.

Here’s Kimi Antonelli talking about the challenge in a race situation: “In the way you have to use your energy while fighting with others, that is a very big step. And I think this year you have to come into the season very open-minded and in some ways you need to be very creative as well, because you can play so much with the energy, especially when fighting other people. It’s like playing chess, but like kind of a speed chess! Obviously, you don’t have as much time to think for every move, but you always have to try and be two steps ahead, especially when fighting, when planning an overtake or when you’re defending. You are trying to predict or force him to do something.”

That was already the case to a certain extent. But with massively more battery power and many more mode options, the equation is exponentially more complex. Even a qualifying lap presents complexity in the choice. Because the combustion engine, when not on full-throttle, is used as a generator for the battery (partly compensating for the disappearance of the previous MGU-H), there are crucial choices to be made by the driver even over a single lap, as George Russell explains: “You have instances where when you go around the corners faster, you’re spending more energy and you’re harvesting less. So, you end up over the course of the lap having less energy to spend. So, you may gain a few tenths into corners, but you may lose a couple of tenths in the straight. So, that takes a bit of time to get your head around… understanding the small techniques that will gain you a couple percent of energy harvesting and the small quirks around this new power unit.”

At some tracks, there may even be an element of lift and coast to get the ultimate qualifying lap. Esteban Ocon goes as far as claiming, “I think we can forget everything that we’ve learned since go-karts on how to go fast, but it will be interesting to learn a new driving style and hopefully find speed with it.”

Now factor into that mix the pre-existing tyre challenges. How much do you take from the tyre – even over a qualifying lap, but especially in the race? How does that impact upon the best energy trade-off? As that tyre performance changes according to how the track surface is evolving, how does it change how the driver should manage the energy? What about the wind changing direction or speed? These are not going to be insignificant, given the potency of the batteries, as Antonelli explains, “The batteries are incredibly sensitive to driving style as well. So depending on your input, it can change the deployment that you get in the next straight.”

In the Barcelona test, Mercedes‘ boss Toto Wolff observed how, “On the Ferrari and the Red Bull, the way they were managing their energy was different to us. Not different worse, not different better. But different. How do you map it? Will we find on a Sunday, ‘Oh we’ve not mapped it in a way which is going to win us the race, we’ve just mapped it for a good grid position?’ The most clever guys in the car and on the engineering side will win.”

All of which seems to pose the perfect set of complex, dynamic equations for Artificial Intelligence to answer. AI is already used in F1 in, for example, CFD, where its value in maximising the regulation resource limitation is immense. It’s used in strategy simulations and in manufacturing; even to scan regulations for potential loopholes. So surely it will have value in solving such a complex set of equations as the energy usage split. The more real-time data fed into it from the races, the more effective it’ll be.

Where AI potentially overlaps into a driving aid must of course be carefully guarded. It cannot be active or automated, but in terms of giving the race engineer instant answers to a situation, there is sure to be a value.

We’re on the brink here of something very significant, as Wolff intimated. “Playing around with the energy management is almost like a gaming factor. But without devaluing what F1 stands for. I think it’s the next step of F1.”

As unintended consequences go, switching to bigger batteries has brought more than just the associated necessary changes, such as active aero. It’s potentially brought a whole new strand of DNA to the sport.

Audi Formula 1 car on track — Will new engine manufacturers like Audi and Red Bull (below) find themselves adrift of the regulars?

DPPI

Fears on the new rules

The sweeping overhaul of Formula 1’s technical rules for 2026 has triggered a wave of apprehension and criticism across both the paddock and among fans.

As the sport prepares to embrace lighter, more electrified cars and active aerodynamics, many drivers, teams, and fans are voicing concerns about the direction F1 is taking. Prominent figures have questioned whether these changes truly serve the spirit of the series, and with teams warning of technical and sporting pitfalls, the new regulations have ignited one of the Most contentious debates in recent F1 history. Here we look at and analyse the main concerns.

Car weight

Cars will get lighter for the first time in years, going from a minimum weight of 800kg to 768kg in an attempt to make them more agile and move away from criticism that the last generation was too big and heavy.

Teams, however, believe it will be extremely difficult to hit the minimum weight requirement, especially given heavier batteries and new safety requirements. The new cars rely a lot more on electrification, with power from the MGU-K (the electric motor) rising from 120kW to 350kW – almost a 300% increase. This means the battery must be capable of delivering much more energy in a short period, requiring larger and more robust cells, which adds weight.

The minimum weight for the entire power unit – the internal combustion engine plus the hybrid system – is rising from 151kg to 185kg. Cars are losing the MGU-H, but that only weighed about 4kg. Some teams are concerned that they will not be able to get to the minimum weight without spending tons of money and compromising on other areas that might make them less competitive.

“A number was plucked out of the air for car weight,” former Red Bull boss Christian Horner said during the Miami GP. “We’ve got engines that are significantly heavier and a car weight that has become lower. It will be an enormous challenge for every team to achieve it. Saving weight costs a colossal amount of money. But it is what it is. It’s the same for everybody. There will be choices teams make to hit the weight, because weight is free laptime. Every 10kg is about 0.35 seconds. It will be very challenging for all teams to get down to minimum weight.”

Red Bull F1 car with aero rakes in pit lane — Weight limits, overtaking ability and active aero. Teams have a lot of conundrums to solve

Getty Images

Running out of power

Losing the MGU-H, which helped with the recovery of energy, will increase the reliance on the electric motor (MGU-K), sparking fears that cars might run out of battery power on certain circuits.

Simulations initially showed that cars running a 50/50 power split between the combustion engine and electric motor could be depleting their battery charge down long straights, causing a significant drop in power and potentially making F1 cars slower than F2. Concerns that drivers may need to lift off or even downshift to conserve energy on circuits like Monza haven’t gone away despite meetings to discuss the issue.

“Noise and high revs are factors that don’t need to be explained to fans”

As is often the case in F1, some manufacturers are in favour of making changes to the rules while others, like Mercedes, want to wait to see how it all works out before any tweaks are made. Discussions about altering the split to rely more on the internal combustion engine have led nowhere so far, although the FIA has said that the latest meeting in April “discussed in principle refinements to the energy management strategy for 2026”.

“Where we’re coming from is we don’t know how it’s going to pan out,” said Wolff. “Are we going to see energy harvesting disasters in Baku or Monza? I don’t know. We hope not.”

Big spread in performance

Connected to the concerns mentioned above is the fear that one engine manufacturer could end up having a huge advantage over the rest.

There will be several new factors influencing engine performance – from the design of the MGU-K to the biofuel chosen – and one manufacturer could have put all the right ingredients together and end up several steps ahead of the rest.

Having less experienced manufacturers like Red Bull Powertrains or Audi also adds to the concerns that the gap between teams could be much bigger.

Black-livery Formula 1 car on track — Get ready for a tide of fresh jargon. Info will be vital to help fans keep up with races

Divided views

There’s already been talk about a push to change the engine formula and return to simpler, V10 power units. That’s not a good sign for the 2026 rules, and it’s an indication of the divide between manufacturers about what they want the future of F1 to be.

The hybrid engines are a marvel of engineering, but that’s something that either F1 has failed to highlight, or something that the average fan doesn’t really appreciate or care about. The engines also lack noise and are not as awe-inspiring as the high-revving V10s or V12 of the past. Noise and high revs are two factors that don’t need to be advertised or explained for fans to appreciate it.

Those things are not changing with the 2026 rules, and while the engines will align with what some manufacturers want, no fan or driver gets too excited by the prospect of a power unit whose main quality is that it’s extremely efficient and pushes battery technology to the edge. The engines will still be very complex and very expensive.

A return to V10s has been ruled out for now, but there’s already been discussion about changing the formula even before the original 2030 commitment. Manufacturers like Mercedes, Honda and Audi have invested heavily in hybrid technology and see electrification as essential for F1’s relevance and sustainability. Others like Ferrari and Red Bull would like to fast-track a return to simple, cheaper and more spectacular V10s.

It’s all just too complex

Electrification, MGU-K, energy splits, active aero… The 2026 rules will add a lot of technical jargon and acronyms to the list of things an average F1 fan needs to learn to understand what’s going on in the races.

The new active aero system will take some explaining and will need to be simplified with visual alerts or graphics to allow people to understand what is actually going on on track. Overtake mode should be simple enough to understand, as it’s basically a videogame-style boost button that can be used like the DRS.

The 2026 regulations are quite transformative for F1 and aim at making the series more attractive to manufacturers. However, the complexity and novelty of the changes are likely to confuse some fans, and the FIA and F1 will need to invest in clear, accessible communication and education to ensure fans remain engaged and can appreciate the new cars.

1950	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo
1951	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati / Mercedes
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
1956	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari
1957	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
1958	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
1959	Jack Brabham	Cooper
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari
1962	Graham Hill	BRM
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus
1964	John Surtees	Ferrari
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus
1966	Jack Brabham	Brabham
1967	Denny Hulme	Brabham
1968	Graham Hill	Lotus
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra
1970	Jochen Rindt	Lotus
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus
1973	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren
1975	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
1976	James Hunt	McLaren
1977	Niki Lauda	Ferrari
1978	Mario Andretti	Lotus
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari
1980	Alan Jones	Williams
1981	Nelson Piquet	Brabham
1982	Keke Rosberg	Williams
1983	Nelson Piquet	Brabham
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren
1986	Alain Prost	McLaren
1987	Nelson Piquet	Williams
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren
1991	Ayrton Senna	McLaren
1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams
1993	Alain Prost	Williams
1994	Michael Schumacher	Benetton
1995	Michael Schumacher	Benetton
1996	Damon Hill	Williams
1997	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams
1998	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren
1999	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn GP
2010	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
2012	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
2013	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2015	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2016	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
2017	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2018	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2019	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2020	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2021	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2022	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2023	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2024	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
2025	Lando Norris	McLaren

1. Australia

2. China

3. Japan

4. Bahrain

5. Saudi Arabia

6. Miami

7. Canada

8. Monaco

9. Barcelona-Catalunya

10. Austria

11. Great Britain

12. Belgium

13. Hungary

14. Netherlands

15. Italy

16. Spain

17. Azerbaijan

18. Singapore

19. United States

20. Mexico City

21. São Paulo

22. Las Vegas

23. Qatar

24. Abu Dhabi

Cadillac

11

Sergio Pérez

77

Valtteri Bottas

How to get on the grid in 366 days

Cadillac has shifted mountains to make its way to the grid this season, with rapid development needed to make the start of the season. Marcus Simmons visits the new team at Silverstone to find out how they did it

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Cadillac confirms Bottas and Pérez for debut 2026 F1 season

It started with a phone call

For Graeme Lowdon, his journey to becoming team principal at Cadillac F1 began with a conversation with Mario Andretti – who, despite his age, remains a dynamo of energy…

Bottas on Cadillac’s F1 reality check: learn, finish races, don’t be last

Cadillac will need to lean on the experience of its drivers this season

Peak practice

Team manager Peter Crolla recalls Cadillac’s real-time race rehearsals through 2025

Alpine

10

Pierre Gasly

43

Franco Colapinto

Can Alpine produce a car worthy of its new engine?

Alpine enters the 2026 F1 era with a new engine and renewed purpose, hoping a reset can succeed where recent seasons have fallen short

A season written off

The engine can’t fix it all

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Franco Colapinto to replace Jack Doohan at Alpine — confirmed

Leadership in flux

Audi

27

Nico Hülkenberg

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

The questions Audi needs to answer in its first F1 season

As Audi makes its F1 debut, its first season will be judged not on laptimes, but on whether it can address some key challenges.

Has Audi found the right leadership structure?

Was taking over Sauber a better option than starting from scratch?

Did Audi get its power unit conceptually right?

Does Audi have the commitment and patience to reach its 2030 ambition?

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Sauber’s most famous F1 races as it transforms into Audi

Has Audi chosen the right drivers?

Haas

87

Oliver Bearman

31

Esteban Ocon

How F1’s ‘smallest team’ is tackling a rules revolution

Haas boss Komatsu says that no team is fully equipped for this season of change, never mind the minnow of the grid. He talks to pablo elizalde

The fight to remain F1’s american team

Will Haas’s Ferrari – powered model – now subtly evolving as a new American rival arrives – still be enough to define its place in Formula 1?

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Who would replace Oliver Bearman if he gets an F1 race ban?

Cadillac enters the frame

America’s team in dispute?