The 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars which will be the 77th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship will be contested over twenty-four Grands Prix held around the world. Drivers and teams are scheduled to compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. Lando Norris is the reigning World Drivers' Champion, while McLaren-Mercedes are the reigning Constructors' Champions.
The 2026 season will feature a major set of regulation changes with a revised power unit configuration and new active aerodynamics. Audi, who acquired Sauber in 2024, will enter as a works team with its own power unit, while Cadillac is set to make its series debut using Ferrari power units, marking the first time an eleventh team has competed since 2016. Honda, through its Honda Racing Corporation subsidiary, will enter into an exclusive works team agreement with Aston Martin, and will supply them with their own power unit after ending its current relationship with Red Bull Racing. Ford will return to the sport for the first time since 2004, supporting Red Bull Powertrains in supplying power units to Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls. Renault will no longer be an engine supplier as Alpine will switch to Mercedes power units.
Entries
Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars. All teams are due to compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
| Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Power unit | Race drivers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Driver name | ||||
| BWT Alpine F1 Team | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | Mercedes | 10 | Pierre Gasly |
| 43 | Franco Colapinto | ||||
| Aston Martin Aramco Honda | Aston Martin Aramco-Honda | AMR26 | Honda | 14 | Fernando Alonso |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | ||||
| Audi Revolut F1 Team | Audi | R26 | Audi | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto |
| 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | ||||
| Cadillac Formula 1 Team | Cadillac-Ferrari | TBA | Ferrari | 11 | Sergio Pérez |
| 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ||||
| Scuderia Ferrari HP | Ferrari | TBA | Ferrari | 16 | Charles Leclerc |
| 44 | Lewis Hamilton | ||||
| TGR Haas F1 Team | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | Ferrari | 31 | Esteban Ocon |
| 87 | Oliver Bearman | ||||
| McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40A | Mercedes | 1 | Lando Norris |
| 81 | Oscar Piastri | ||||
| Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team | Mercedes | TBA | Mercedes | 12 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 63 | George Russell | ||||
| Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford | TBA | Red Bull Ford | 30 | Liam Lawson |
| TBA | Arvid Lindblad | ||||
| Oracle Red Bull Racing | Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford | RB22 | Red Bull Ford | 6 | Isack Hadjar |
| 33 | Max Verstappen | ||||
| Atlassian Williams F1 Team | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | Mercedes | 23 | Alexander Albon |
| 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ||||
| Source: | |||||
Team changes
Cadillac will become the eleventh team, marking Cadillac's first appearance in the series and the first new team on the grid since Haas in 2016. The team will use Ferrari power units and gearboxes, with plans to develop their own engine for use in a future season. Cadillac had previously tried to enter Formula One in conjunction with Andretti Global.
Three new engine manufacturers will enter Formula One, coinciding with the engine regulation changes. Audi will enter the sport for the first time, having purchased the existing Sauber team in 2024. Audi's predecessor company Auto Union did compete in Grand Prix racing prior to World War II and the inception of the World Championship in 1950. The team raced in 2024 and 2025 as Kick Sauber, using Ferrari engines, before it becomes the Audi factory team in 2026. Thus, Ferrari will supply Haas and Cadillac as customer teams.
Ford will return to Formula One as an engine supplier for the first time since it provided engines for its works team Jaguar and its former customers Jordan and Minardi in 2004. It will form a partnership with Red Bull Powertrains, which will supply Red Bull Racing and their second team Racing Bulls. Honda, which partially withdrew from Formula One in 2021 whilst remaining as partners of Red Bull Powertrains, will split from the two Red Bull-owned teams and relaunch a fully-independent engine program supplying Aston Martin under the Honda Racing Corporation subsidiary. Aston Martin had used Mercedes power units since they re-joined the sport, who had supplied engines to Aston Martin's predecessors since 2009. Honda had previously collaborated with Aston Martin's predecessor Jordan from 1998 to 2002.
Renault will cease to provide engines for Alpine from 2026 after achieving poor results since the beginning of the hybrid power unit regulations in 2014. It will thus be the first season without any Renault engine since the 2000 championship. Alpine will become a customer team, as opposed to a full works outfit, as had been the case since Renault reacquired Team Enstone ahead of the 2016 season. Alpine will become a customer team of Mercedes, utilising their engines and gearboxes from this season onwards.
Driver changes
Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas will return to full time seats with Cadillac. Pérez had previously signed a two-year contract with Red Bull Racing until 2026, but this was terminated by mutual agreement at the end of 2024 season. Bottas last competed with Sauber in 2024 and was one of Mercedes' reserve drivers for 2025.
Isack Hadjar will move from Racing Bulls to Red Bull Racing, replacing Yuki Tsunoda, who will become Red Bull's test and reserve driver. Hadjar's replacement will be Arvid Lindblad, who will be promoted from Formula 2.
Calendar
The 2026 calendar comprises twenty-four Grands Prix, as with the previous two seasons. The Chinese, Miami, Canadian, British, Dutch and Singapore Grands Prix will feature the sprint format.
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | Race date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne | 8 March |
| 2 | Chinese Grand Prix | Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai | 15 March |
| 3 | Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 29 March |
| 4 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir | 12 April |
| 5 | Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah | 19 April |
| 6 | Miami Grand Prix | Miami International Autodrome, Miami Gardens, Florida | 3 May |
| 7 | Canadian Grand Prix | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal | 24 May |
| 8 | Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monaco | 7 June |
| 9 | Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló | 14 June |
| 10 | Austrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg | 28 June |
| 11 | British Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 5 July |
| 12 | Belgian Grand Prix | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | 19 July |
| 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring, Mogyoród | 26 July |
| 14 | Dutch Grand Prix | Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | 23 August |
| 15 | Italian Grand Prix | Monza Circuit, Monza | 6 September |
| 16 | Spanish Grand Prix | Madring, Madrid | 13 September |
| 17 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku City Circuit, Baku | 26 September |
| 18 | Singapore Grand Prix | Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore | 11 October |
| 19 | United States Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas | 25 October |
| 20 | Mexico City Grand Prix | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City | 1 November |
| 21 | São Paulo Grand Prix | Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo | 8 November |
| 22 | Las Vegas Grand Prix | Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Paradise, Nevada | 21 November |
| 23 | Qatar Grand Prix | Lusail International Circuit, Lusail | 29 November |
| 24 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi | 6 December |
| Source: | |||
Calendar changes
The Spanish Grand Prix will move from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló to a new street circuit in Madrid built around the IFEMA. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will continue to host a race under the name "Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix". The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola was discontinued after their contract to host their race until 2025 was not renewed. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on a Saturday following a request from the promoter and relevant government stakeholders to accommodate their Remembrance Day.
Teams will have the opportunity to run their cars in a series of three separate three-day tests prior to the season, a significant expansion over previous testing programs to account for the new chassis and engine regulations.
Regulation changes
Power unit, aerodynamic, geometric, and safety regulations are all set to be altered for the 2026 season.
Power units
New power unit regulations are due to be introduced for the 2026 season. The new power units will still produce over 1,000 bhp (750 kW), although the power will come from different sources. The engine regulations will see the turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 internal combustion engine configuration used since 2014 retained. However, the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat), which has also been in use since 2014, will be removed, while the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) output will increase to 470 bhp (350 kW) from 160 bhp (120 kW). The power output of the internal combustion part of the power unit will decrease to 540 bhp (400 kW) from 850 bhp (630 kW). Fuel flow rates will be measured and limited based on energy, rather than mass of the fuel itself. The power units will use a fully sustainable fuel being developed by Formula One. The power units are expected to recover twice as much electrical energy as before.
During the Commission meeting in early 2025, it was agreed to explore for catch-up options for power unit development for manufacturers who may have fallen behind their competitors in the initial development phase. The Commission also suggested that a relevant advisory committee look at whether the energy deployment of new power units should be reduced in race trim from the planned 470 bhp (350 kW) after some teams became concerned about the possibility of their cars running out of deployable energy in a race.
Car size and aerodynamics
On 6 June 2024, the 2026 car concept was revealed. The concept featured new active aerodynamics in both the front and rear wings. The concept saw the elimination of the drag reduction system, being replaced by a new manual override engine mode. The wheelbase was reduced from 360 cm (140 in) to 340 cm (130 in), the width was reduced from 200 cm (79 in) to 190 cm (75 in), and the minimum mass was reduced by 30 kg (66 lb). The tyres' widths will also be reduced by 2.5 cm (0.98 in) on the front pair and by 3.0 cm (1.2 in) on the rears. The floor will have reduced ground effect to ease the issues cars have suffered with porpoising.
In October 2024, FIA announced that the downforce reduction of the 2026 cars compared to the 2022–2025 generation of cars would be less than initially proposed for performance and safety reasons. Later in the month, the FIA confirmed that the reduction in downforce from the 2026 generation of cars would be around 15%, a significantly smaller reduction than the originally drafted regulations which the FIA claimed had given the 2026 cars downforce reduction of over 40% compared to their predecessors. In terms of lap time difference this will make the 2026 cars two seconds slower than the 2022–2025 generation of cars rather than the four seconds slower initially envisaged in the initial draft of the 2026 technical regulations.
Safety features
The regulations for the Front Impact Structure (FIS) will be updated with the intent to enhance safety during crashes. A two-stage FIS design has been introduced to address previous issues where the structure detached near the survival cell after a primary collision, leaving the vehicle vulnerable to further impacts. Side intrusion protection, particularly around the cockpit and fuel cell will also be improved. These upgrades aim to shield critical areas of the car during side collisions, while maintaining the vehicle's weight. The roll hoop's strength will be improved, withstanding loads increased from 16G to 20G, aligning with safety standards of other single-seater series. The load testing requirements will be raised from 141 kN to 167 kN.
To further safeguard drivers and track marshals, lateral safety lights will be mandated. These lights will display the Energy Recovery System (ERS) status of a car when it stops on track, providing visual indicators of potential electrical risks, especially in emergency situations.
Driver numbers
The rules surrounding the permanent driver numbering system introduced in 2014 will be modified. Drivers will be permitted to change their race number during their careers, though the mechanism by which they will be allowed to is yet to be determined.
Car liveries
In order to discourage teams leaving excessive amounts of exposed black carbon on their cars in order to save weight, the FIA will mandate that a minimum of 55% of the surface area when viewed from the side and above must be covered by painted or stickered liveries.
Cooling vests and special heat provisions
Driver cooling vests will be mandated when the FIA declares a heat hazard during a race weekend. Prior to 2026, the cooling vest was optional. Additionally, the vest will undergo a redesign.
Season summary
Pre-season
Three pre-season tests will be held. The first will be a private test and will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 26–30 January. The second and third will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on 11–13 February and on 18–20 February.
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