By Ciara Casey
As the 2026 season rapidly approaches, here’s everything you need to look out for this season.
Regulation Changes:
The cars will be physically changing this year; the cars will be narrower than recent years. With cars now being lighter and more aerodynamically friendly, the competition is expected to be even closer this year.
Seat changes:
Familiar faces return to the grid this year, after their departure from F1 in 2024, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be on the grid again this year filling the lineup for new team on the grid Cadillac.
Arvid Lindblad is a new face on the 2026 grid after graduating from F2 and earning himself a seat at Racing bulls, sister team of Red Bull, after Isack was promoted to Red Bull to replace Yuki Tsunoda.
Teams:
Stake F1 team are rebranding this year, being taken over by Audi. The team are expected to bring great things to the Formula One grid, with an exceptional lineup and being a dominant team across other motorsport categories.
An 11th team will be joining the F1 grid this year, American team Cadillac are to debut on the grid. With a strong lineup of previous f1 winners, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, expectations are high for the new team.
Aston Martin have signed a contract to work with Honda and have them supply their engines. This partnership is expected to do well for the team after Adrien Newey signed for the team to join their projects for 2026 onwards. Newey designed the cars that plummeted Red Bull to consecutive drivers championships. Alongside Newey the team have also signed Jenson Button, taking the role of team ambassador. He will advise and contribute to the team, being a liable asset towards their success in the future.
Driver market:
This season a vast majority of contracts are due to end, meaning the drivers market will be open to change, the most in recent yearsm
One driver to watch this year is Max Verstappen, although his contract isn’t expected to end. After speculation last season regarding his future at Red Bull, if Max were to be unhappy at the team this season he may depart from Red Bull come 2027.
A new track:
This year, Madrid will be joining the f1 grid. This means there will be 2 Spanish races on the 2026 grid, Barcelona is to stay for this season alongside new street track Madrid. The Madring is a mixture of streets and permanent segments around the IFEMA Madrid exhibition centre.
No drivers have prior knowledge of this track, leading to an interesting race and suspense for fans.
World champions:
As the chase for the championship begins this will be the first time in 4 years that there are 4 world champions on the grid. After winning last season Lando Norris now joins Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso as they battle alongside the rest of the grid trying to win the 2026 driver championship.
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