2026 Formula One World Championship
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 several 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.
The 2026 season will feature a major set of regulation changes with a revised power unit configuration and new active aerodynamics. Two new power unit manufacturers will enter the sport and one will leave: Ford will return to the sport for the first time since 2004, supporting Red Bull Powertrains in supplying Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, while Audi, who acquired Sauber in 2024, will enter as a works team. Renault will leave the sport, making it the first time that the manufacturer will not compete with any sort of Renault-licensed engine since the 1988 season. Cadillac is set to make its series debut, marking the first time an eleventh team has competed since 2016.
Entries
The following constructors and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2026 World Championship. All teams are due to compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.[1] Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.[2]
Team changes
Cadillac will become the eleventh team in Formula One, marking Cadillac's first appearance in the series and the first new team on the grid since Haas in 2016, and will use Ferrari power units and gearboxes.[15][16][17] Cadillac had previously tried to unsuccessfully enter Formula One in conjunction with Andretti Global.[39][40]
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. The team will race in the 2024 and 2025 seasons as Kick Sauber, using Ferrari engines, before becoming the Audi factory team for 2026. As a result, Haas and new entrant Cadillac will become the two Ferrari customer teams.[41][42]
Ford will return to Formula One as an engine supplier for the first time since it provided engines for its own works team Jaguar and its former customers Jordan and Minardi in 2004.[43] 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 in the sport as partners to Red Bull Powertrains, will split from the two Red Bull-owned teams and relaunch a fully-fledged engine program starting with Aston Martin under the Honda Racing Corporation banner. Aston Martin had used Mercedes power units since Aston Martin rejoined the sport, with Mercedes having supplied engines to Aston Martin's predecessors since 2009. Honda had previously collaborated with Aston Martin's predecessor Jordan from 1998 to 2002.[44][45][46]
Renault will cease to provide engines for Alpine from 2026 onwards after the string of poor results of their engines since hybrid power unit regulations era in 2014, making it the first season without any sort of Renault and French-licensed engine since the 1988 championship. This means Alpine will become a customer team as opposed to a full works outfit as had been the case since Renault reacquired Team Enstone – when they were competing as Lotus, and in 2015 they were running Mercedes engines – ahead of the 2016 season. The team previously ran under the Renault name from 2016 to 2020, and previously from 2002 to 2011 when Renault purchased what was then known as Benetton in 2000.[4] Alpine will become a customer team of Mercedes, utilising their engines and gearboxes from this season onwards.[5]
List of planned Grands Prix
The following twenty-one Grands Prix are contracted to be held in 2026:
The following four Grands Prix are contracted for 2025, but do not have a contract for 2026:
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 Exhibition Centre,[67] with the former track's future being unknown due to its own coinciding contract for 2026.[66] The Dutch Grand Prix will feature the sprint format after the organizers announced that 2026 would be the final time that the Grand Prix will be held.[73]
Teams will have the opportunity to run their cars in a series of three three-day tests, a significant expansion over previous testing programs to account for the new chassis and engine regulations.[74]
Regulation changes
Power units
New power unit regulations are due to be introduced for the 2026 season.[75][76] 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 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 banned, 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). In addition, 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.[77][78] The power units are expected to recover twice as much electrical energy as before.[79]
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.[80] 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.[79][81] The floor will have reduced ground effect to ease the issues cars have suffered with porpoising.[82] In October 2024, FIA announced that the downforce reduction of the 2026 cars compared to 2022–2025 generation of cars would be less than initially proposed for performance and safety reasons.[83] 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.[84]
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 141kN to 167kN.[85]
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.[85]
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