Red Bull Motorsports
F1
Everything you need to know about the 2026 Formula One season
Max Verstappen will be going all out to reclaim his title, but with fierce competition, new teams, new drivers and huge rule changes, the 2026 F1 season looks wide open.
Part of this story
A complete overhaul of the rules means the 2026 Formula One season promises to be a game changer: the cars will be shorter, narrower and lighter, powered by new engines, while DRS gives way to a new active aero system. There’s also a new race circuit and two more cars on the grid, one of which will be driven by an old friend. So let's take a deep dive into what the 2026 F1 season has in store...
01
Verstappen continues to prove he's the best driver of his generation
Winning team: Max Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
In 2025, Verstappen demonstrated his resilience and his brilliance in what was a very different campaign. Since 2022, he’d been leading from the front in the fastest car, but all that changed in the latter half of 2024 as McLaren produced a quicker car.
Cheered on by his legion of fans, Verstappen won more races than any other driver using clever strategy and supreme skill on track to produce a dazzling pole lap or masterful overtake. His victory at Suzuka is one of the all-time best. Until the start of testing, it’ll be almost impossible to predict whether he'll be the front runner in the 2026 campaign or playing catch up. In 2025, he didn't really hit his stride until his home grand prix: from then on, he was never off the podium. But however the season unfolds, you can guarantee the Dutchman will be pushing all the way.
02
An exciting new team-mate for Verstappen
Isack Hadjar steps up to Red Bull Racing
© Getty Images
The talented Isack Hadjar will be on the opposite side of the garage to Verstappen. The young Frenchman was outstanding for Racing Bulls in his rookie season. Going from frustration at the opening race in Australia to a triumphant third-place podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“I’m so grateful to Oracle Red Bull Racing for giving me the opportunity and trust to race at the highest level of Formula One,” said Hadjar. “This year with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls has been absolutely amazing, I’ve learned a lot and secured a maiden podium. I feel I’m much better as a racing driver and a person. I feel ready to go to Oracle Red Bull Racing and I am happy and proud they feel the same. It’s an awesome move, to work with the best and learn from Max is something I can’t wait for."
It’s an awesome move, to work with the best and learn from Max is something I can’t wait for
The 21-year-old replaces Yuki Tsunoda in the team, with the Japanese driver moving into the role of Red Bull Test and Reserve Driver for 2026 after he himself stepped in to replace Liam Lawson in the RB21 early in the 2025 season. Hadjar becomes Max’s eighth team-mate, following Tsunoda, Lawson, Sergio Pérez, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz. And like all of those drivers, with the exception of Pérez, Isack made his way to the Oracle Red Bull Racing hot seat through the Red Bull Junior Team. Speaking of which…
03
Farewell to Dr Helmut Marko
Dr Helmut Marko has decided to step down at the end of 2025 after more than 20 years as Red Bull's motorsport advisor, in which he’s been a guiding hand for almost every aspect of Red Bull’s trophy-laden Formula programmes, including all the drivers, both the Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls teams, the Red Bull Junior Team and even the Red Bull Ring.
The 82-year-old came into motor sport as one of three brilliant young Austrian drivers along with F1 world champions Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda. A successful endurance racer, he won the 24Hours of Le Mans in 1971 and set the lap record for the prestigious Targa Florio – a race he described with typical candour as "totally insane".
Sebastian Vettel celebrates with Dr Helmut Marko at Suzuka in 2009
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Helmut Marko prepares to drive his BRM 157 at the Red Bull Ring
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Helmut Marko with his formrer protege Gerhard Berger
© GEPA pictures/Red Bull Content Pool
Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen had a great working relationship
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
But an eye injury at the 1972 French Grand Prix forced an early end to his driving career. He became a driver manager, helping to steer the career of Gerhard Berger, and worked as a team manager in F3. In 1999, RSM Marko became Red Bull Junior Team, evolving into the world’s best driver development programme, bringing drivers through the ultra-competitive feeder series to F1, including world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
"I have been involved in motorsport for six decades now and the past 20-plus years at Red Bull have been an extraordinary and extremely successful journey," Marko says. "It has been a wonderful time that I have been able to help shape and share with so many talented people. Everything we have built and achieved together fills me with pride."
Thank you, Helmut. We’ve achieved everything we ever dreamed of together. I’m forever grateful for your belief in me
04
New driver coming to the track
Exciting prospect Arvid Lindblad graduates to Racing Bulls
© Getty Images
After the avalanche of rookies that we saw in 2025, the only rookie driver on the 2026 grid is Arvid Lindblad who makes the move from F2 to Racing Bulls. The 18-year-old Brit is an exciting prospect having moved swiftly through the F1 feeder series, becoming the youngest race winner in both F3 and F2. The Red Bull Junior Team driver began 2025 by winning the Formula Regional Oceania championship which earned him his FIA Super Licence, qualifying him for F1, and he finished the year with an F1 test. He’ll line up alongside Liam Lawson.
05
22 cars on the grid
Liam Lawson continues with Racing Bulls in 2026
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Lindblad is the only rookie, but there will be two more drivers on the grid as Sergio Pérez returns to F1 with Valtteri Bottas behind the wheel of a new team. Cadillac become the 11th Formula One team and the first new team along the pitlane since fellow Americans Haas a decade ago.
Like Haas, they will be powered by Ferrari engines, but they will start producing their own power units in 2029. Further along the pits, Sauber become Audi as the Bavarian marque looks to become a new power house in F1.
06
Teams and driver line-ups for 2026
Checo Pérez returns to F1 action with Cadillac
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Team
Driver
Driver
Oracle Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen
Isack Hadjar
McLaren
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Mercedes
George Russell
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Franco Colapinto
Haas
Esteban Ocón
Oliver Bearman
Visa Cash App Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson
Arvind Lindblad
Williams
Carlos Sainz
Alex Albon
Audi
Nico Hülkenberg
Gabriel Bortoleto
Cadillac
Sergio Pérez
Valtteri Bottas
07
The F1 2026 cars: Less aerodynamics, less of a drag
The new F1 regulations have two key aims: to encourage more wheel-to-wheel racing and to keep the sport relevant to consumers by developing new technology. One aspect is the sport is stripping away aerodynamics such as ground-effect to reduce the wake of dirty air behind cars and make it easier to overtake. The cars will also be slightly smaller and 30kg lighter. With less mass, 30 percent less downforce and 55 percent less drag, the cars will be easier to handle.
08
F1 turns on X-Mode
Into the unknown: 2026 is the biggest shake-up of F1 rules in years
© Getty Images
To help the drivers close up and overtake, the 2026 chassis will have movable front and rear wings to promote closer racing. In Z-Mode the front and rear wings will positioned to allow cars to corner at high speeds. When they hit the straights, the drivers can activate the sexier-sounding X-Mode, which switches the flaps to a lower drag setting, allowing them to go even faster.
09
The engines become even more sophisticated
Close racing: Max Verstappen races Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in 2025
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
The second part of those rule change aims to place more emphasis on pure engine power. The current 1.6-litre, V6 turbocharged hybrid internal combustion engine is already the most efficient engine in the world – and it’s being improved with the addition of a new battery component that will allow it to generate three times more electrical, rising from 120kW to 350kW. The cars will recover twice as much energy from braking and the fuels used are 100 percent sustainable and that reduced drag will also save a lot of fuel. Apart from being cleaner and greener, the engines will be able to deliver a 120hp boost to drivers to help with overtaking and defending.
10
Red Bull become an engine manufacturer
Red Bull Powertrains factory in Milton Keynes
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Racing have always excelled in designing a world-beating chassis but they've relied on an engine manufacturer to supply the powerplant. That changed in 2021, Red Bull took control of their fate by establishing Red Bull Powertrains and began building power units from an existing design from Honda. The RBPTH001 has been used by Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls for the first half of the decade.
But since 2023, Red Bull Powertrains have been working in partnership with Ford to develop the next gen power unit to push Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls to the front of the pack. In 2026, Red Bull become the first F1 team(s) to go from making a chassis to developing their own power unit. We’ll hear the new Red Bull Ford Powertrains’ unit fire up when the all-new RB22 and VCARB 02 are revealed in Detroit, USA, on January 15.
11
F1 comes to Madrid
The Red Bull Ring will be a fixture of the F1 schedule until at least 2041
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
There are new developments on the calendar as the Spanish Grand Prix gets a new home at the purpose-built Madring. F1 returns to Madrid for the first time in 45 years with a unique circuit that combines urban roads with purpose-built areas, offering fast sections, technical corners and extensive fan zones, aiming to be one of F1's most fan-friendly and accessible events. The Austrian Grand Prix will be a part of the F1 calendar until at least 2041 after agreeing a long-term extension to its contract and the Canadian Grand Prix will be on the schedule until at least 2035. But 2026 will be the last time F1 goes to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.
12
What races are taking place in 2026?
With so many changes on track, the F1 2026 schedule remains largely unchanged. After testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, the season opener will be in Australia again and the day/night Abu Dhabi Grand Prix provides the spectacular finale.
The Canadian Grand Prix will now come after the Miami Grand Prix before F1 heads to Europe for the summer, starting in Monaco from June and finishing in Spain in September. The series then returns to Asia with the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix, before a triple header in the Americas, before Qatar and Abu Dhabi close out the season.
13
F1 2026 World Championship calendar
Round
Date
Country
Grand Prix
Venue
1
March 6-8
Australia
Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne
2
March 13-15
China
Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai
3
March 27-29
Japan
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka
4
April 10-12
Bahrain
Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir
5
April 17-19
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Jeddah
6
May 1-3
USA
United States Grand Prix
Miami
7
May 22-24
Canada
Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal
8
June 5-7
Monaco
Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco
9
June 12-14
Barcelona-Catalunya
Spanish Grand Prix
Barcelona-Catalunya
10
June 26-28
Austria
Austrian Grand Prix
Spielberg
11
July 3-5
United Kingdom
British Grand Prix
Silverstone
12
July 17-19
Belgium
Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps
13
July 24-26
Hungary
Hungarian Grand Prix
Budapest
14
August 21-23
The Netherlands
Dutch Grand Prix
Zandvoort
15
September 4-6
Italy
Italian Grand Prix
Monza
16
September 11-13
Spain
Spanish Grand Prix
Madrid
17
September 24-26
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku
18
October 9-11
Singapore
Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore
19
October 23-25
USA
United States Grand Prix
Austin
20
October 30 - November 1
Mexico
Mexican Grand Prix
Mexico City
21
November 6-8
Brazil
Brazilian Grand Prix
São Paulo
22
November 19-21
USA
United States Grand Prix
Las Vegas
23
November 27-29
Qatar
Qatar Grand Prix
Lusail
24
December 4-6
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina
14
Which rounds will feature a Sprint Race?
The season will finish at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
© Getty Images
The Sprint rounds are back with six more races starting in Shanghai and Miami. Silverstone returns to the Sprint Calendar for the first time since the format’s inaugural event in 2021, and Montreal, Zandvoort and Singapore are all set to host their first ever Sprint weekend.
DATE
GRAND PRIX
VENUE
March 13–15
China
Shanghai
May 1–3
Miami
Miami
May 22–24
Canada
Montréal
July 3-5
Great Britain
Silverstone
August 21-23
Netherlands
Zandvoort
October 9-11
Singapore
Singapore
Part of this story
