F1: Everything you need to know before the 77th season

Source: Radio New Zealand

The 2026 Formula 1 season will feature some of the biggest technical changes in the history of the sport, since the inaugural season in 1950.

The cars get an overhaul with the two testing sessions in Bahrain in February critical in preparation for the start of the new championship in early March.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

2026

The new championship will hopefully provide a much needed spark which 2025 lacked until Max Verstappen’s late run for a fifth title.

Lando Norris is the defending champion and McLaren can expect to be among the frontrunners again. His team-mate Oscar Piastri faded in 2025, but will be hoping to be the front-runner this time while Verstappen can never be discounted.

However, new car regulations mean there is some unpredictability as to which teams will be the strongest.

With Andrew Newey in charge at Aston Martin it is hoped that they can be contenders with new engine supplier Honda, while Red Bull will debut their new power units in association with Ford.

Mercedes are expected to have their power unit up to speed at the start of the season.

There is one new driver – Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls, the return of another two – Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac, and plenty of experience with Fernando Alonso, 44, and Lewis Hamilton at 40 the two oldest drivers.

Throw in a new track, new team, and 2026 is shaping up to be a good one.

Cars

Formula 1 fans will be hearing a lot about Boost, Overtake, Active Aero and Recharge in 2026.

The changes to the regulations are the first since 2022, when aerodynamic designs were overhauled to promote closer racing.

The aerodynamics get another overall with the Drag Reduction System (DRS) replaced by a manual override engine mode.

At top speeds the hybrid engines will get a boost of electric power. It can only be used when a car is within one second of another.

The engines themselves remain a 1.6-litre V6 turbo but there is a significant increase in electrical energy meaning a 50-50 split between electric power and the energy produced by the internal combustion engine.

The cars will be slightly smaller and weigh about 30kg less, while tyres will also be slightly smaller in width.

Each team will use 100 percent sustainable fuel.

There is a significant increase in the team budget cap in 2026, rising from NZ$230 million to NZ$370m, primarily to cover the research and development costs for the new technical regulations.

Schedule

There is just one new Grand Prix in 2026 with Madrid replacing Imola, however there is a shift in scheduling.

The Madrid race will be held on a hybrid street/permanent circuit in September. The Canadian Grand Prix moves from June to May and will follow the race in Miami.

There are six sprint races in Shanghai, Miami, Montreal, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Singapore.

The Dutch Grand Prix will be run for the last time in August under its current contract.

Teams

Most notable in 2026 is the arrival of Cadillac with the General Motors brand the first new constructor since Haas in 2016. They will use Ferrari power units initially but the team hopes to be manufacturing their own in 2029.

Cadillac signed experience drivers Valterri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Sauber becomes Audi this year with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg retained from 2025 with the team using Audi engines instead of Ferrari.

Aston Martin changes to Honda engines, while Red Bull and Racing Bulls are now producing their own engines in association with Ford.

There is just one new driver to the F1 grid in 2026 with Arvid Lindblad promoted from F2 to join New Zealand’s Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls.

World champion Lando Norris has taken over number 1 for his car in 2026, while former champion Max Verstappen is switching to number 3.

Teams (engine, drivers and numbers)

Alpine – Mercedes, Pierre Gasly (10), Franco Colapinto (43)

Aston Martin – Honda, Fernando Alonso (14), Lance Stroll (18)

Audi – Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto (5), Nico Hulkenberg (27)

Cadillac – Ferrari, Sergio Perez (11), Valtteri Bottas (77)

Ferrari – Ferrari, Charles Leclerc (16), Lewis Hamilton (44)

Haas – Ferrari, Oliver Bearman (87), Esteban Ocon (31)

McLaren – Mercedes, Oscar Piastri (81), Lando Norris (1)

Mercedes – Mercedes, George Russell (63), Andrea Kimi Antonelli (12)

Red Bull – Red Bull-Ford, Max Verstappen (3), Isack Hadjar (6)

Racing Bulls – Red Bull-Ford, Liam Lawson (30), Arvid Lindblad (41)

Williams – Mercedes, Alex Albon (23), Carlos Sainz (55)

Qualifying

Battery power is set to make an impact in qualifying with fastest laps likely to be determined by preparation laps where drivers will endeavour to charge their batteries as much as possible.

Extra speed will be determined by the battery power so drivers will not want to use that any more than necessary as they build up to their quick lap, but that could be affected by traffic.

The driver controls the car’s battery, not the software.

Drivers use and charge battery energy as they accelerate and brake so they will have to manage their way around a lap knowing when to push and when to conserve so they can keep enough in the battery.

Liam Lawson

After making his debut in 2023, Lawson has now raced in 35 Grand Prix.

He had a torrid 2025 after starting the year in Red Bull before being demoted to Racing Bulls after two rounds. Lawson finished 15th in the driver standings with seven top 10 finishes, his best was fifth in Azerbaijan.

However, he also had five DNF’s and will need to be more consistent this year.

With Isack Hadjar now promoted to Red Bull, Lawson is the senior driver at Racing Bulls, who have promoted Arvid Lindblad from F2.

Lawson believes he will be better.

Calendar

1/ March 6-8 Australian Grand Prix

2/ March 13-15 Chinese Grand Prix

3/ March 27-29 Japanese Grand Prix

4/ April 10-12 Bahrain Grand Prix

5/ April 17-19 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

6/ May 1-3 Miami Grand Prix

7/ May 22-24 Canadian Grand Prix

8/ June 5-7 Monaco Grand Prix

9/ June 12-14 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

10/ June 26-28 Austrian Grand Prix

11/ July 3-5 British Grand Prix

12/ July 17-19 Belgian Grand Prix

13/ July 24-26 Hungarian Grand Prix

14/ Aug 21-23 Dutch Grand Prix

15/ Sept 4-6 Italian Grand Prix

16/ Sept 11-13 Spanish Grand Prix

17/ Sept 25-27 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

18/ Oct 9-11 Singapore Grand Prix

19/ Oct 23-25 United States Grand Prix

20/ Oct 30-Nov 1 Mexican Grand Prix

21/ Nov 6-8 Brazilian Grand Prix

22/ Nov 19-21 Las Vegas Grand Prix

23/ Nov 27-29 Qatar Grand Prix

24/ Dec 4-6 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand