Spring. The time of renewal. Yes, we’ve also got the crack of the bat and pop of a fastball emanating from Florida and Arizona on this side of the pond, but today we focus on the sight of uncomfortably-fashionable European metrosexuals driving rocket sleds really fast. That’s right, it’s Formula 1’s 2026 season, it starts this weekend in Australia, and it’s likely to be one of the most interesting seasons in recent history.
New Car, Who Dis?
The big reason for excitement this year is that FIA (the governing body for F1) has announced New Sporting Regulations, which in less Fancy-Man terms means the teams have to build a new car from the ground up. So a lot of the pecking order that had built up over the past few years is thrown out the window and everyone gets a fresh start… if they get the car right. We could go into the deep weeds but the main change is that they’re trying to make the sport more eco-friendly by shifting the balance between traditional combustion power and electrical power. (It may surprise the casual fan or non-fan to learn this but F1 cars are actually hybrids… though definitely NOT your neighbor’s Prius.) FIA is shifting things from “mostly traditional combustion with a small electrical component” to a 50-50 split between combustion and electric power. Glass-half-full, it’s going to force drivers to manage their battery consumption more which may make driver skill more prominent in the equation; glass-half-empty, there were several drivers in spring testing who felt like they spent TOO much time managing power, such that they couldn’t really RACE effectively.
There are certainly other changes — cars are going to be a little smaller and lighter; there are changes to the aerodynamics — but the power specs are the big thing that’s going to dictate how this season goes.
The early returns from pre-season testing are mixed. The hierarchy at the top remains, insofar as the Big 4 of the previous cycle — McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari — are largely STILL the top four. But the order is a little jumbled, as McLaren (the 2025 team champions) seem to be the slowest of the lead pack while Ferrari and Mercedes seem like they’re poised to be far more competitive, if not possible front-runners. Meanwhile, further down the grid, Alpine seems surprisingly competitive after being nowhere for most of last year, while Williams (2025’s best-of-the-rest) missed the first testing session because their car was too heavy. And Aston Martin… hoooo boy. Don’t even know where to begin with that. Put a pin in it for now.
New TEAM, Who Dis?
The other big change is that we have a new team making its debut — Cadillac makes it 11 teams and 22 cars on the grid, after more than a decade at 10 and 20. It’s worth mentioning that Cadillac’s first attempt to join F1 (as Andretti Racing at that point) was rejected a few years earlier: either they didn’t think Andretti’s business plan was strong enough, or the existing teams didn’t want to cut the profits pie into 11 slices instead of 10. So they went back and reswizzled their plan, pushed GM/Cadillac to the lead of the partnership, and got approved.
Cadillac’s team is a bit polarizing insofar as they’re really leaning into their identity as An American Team(tm). Some of it is good harmless fun — Keanu Reeves doing a Matrix-esque hype video, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas embracing a bit of a Euro-redneck persona on social media — but some of it plays a little tone-deaf when the list of countries we’re bombing grows longer by the day. Also, more within the sport itself, there’s been a simmering frustration that American dollars and American fans are being prioritized over F1’s traditional fanbase, and Cadillac’s entry is seen as another slap in that collective face.
For their drivers, Cadillac went with the theme of “Experienced Wingmen To Previous World Champions”. The aforementioned Bottas was Lewis Hamilton’s teammate for several of L. Ham’s Mercedes championships, while Sergio Perez (aka “Checo”) was Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull more recently. The thinking seems to be if you’re developing the car from scratch, get experienced guys who can give you good feedback rather than young drivers who may still be learning themselves. Though they do have former IndyCar driver Colton Herta in the pipeline as project for the future.
New Champion, Who Dis?
I swear we’ll move on to a new theme for our subheads, but the other excitement is that we have a new defending drivers’ champion and outstanding Muppet candidate… Lando Norris of McLaren. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had won four years in a row, but had a rough first half of 2025 and JUST missed out on a fifth. Red Bull spent the first half of the season in the weeds and ended up firing team principal Christian Horner. Shortly thereafter, Max went on a tear for the ages in the second half, cutting a margin of 100-plus points in August to a final margin of two. Given Max’s late-season momentum, there’s a real sense that if the season was one race longer, Max would’ve completed the comeback and had the Steeler-esque “one for the thumb”… a sentiment also reflected in the fact that Verstappen still won the Driver of the Year award (voted by peers) over Norris.
For the record, McLaren dominated in the constructors’ championship… had it sewn up by summer break. I just didn’t think there’s much to say about it since that car got chucked after the season. Though it does speak to having a solid driver pair: there was a point where Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri actually led in the driver standings.
In Contrast, A (Mostly) Stable Driver Lineup
Last year was a year of upheaval in terms of drivers. There were SIX rookie drivers (out of 20) and only two teams (McLaren and Aston Martin) returned their same driver pair from 2024. This year… much quieter: other than the Cadillac boys, we just have one rookie and one additional seat change. 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad moves up from F2 to race for VCARB (Visa CashApp Racing Bulls); Isack Hadjar (one of last year’s six rookies) moves up from VCARB to Red Bull, with Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda the guy left without a chair when the music stopped.
(This is where I pause to explain to novices and non-fans that Red Bull and VCARB are supposedly “independent” teams, though they are both owned by the same parent corporation, they swap drivers between the two teams rather freely, and there have been times where VCARB cars have made strategy decisions to the benefit of Red Bull’s cars. But hey… Cadillac’s the problem, right?)
What To Expect From 2026
I guess I’ll finish this with a quick tour of the paddock. Introduce (or re-introduce) the players, highlight the key issues, scribble down some thoughts… MAYBE a little bit of prediction, though the new cars make that a bit of a moving target. In reverse order of last year’s standings:
- Cadillac (Valtteri Bottas / Sergio Perez): setting aside people’s feelings about ‘Murrica, they’re in the honeymoon phase, so they’re largely easy to root for. Bottas has always been a fun presence; a lot of people felt Perez got a raw deal when he got run out of Red Bull. Lowest-of-low expectations as a new team, so even a couple points finishes would be worthy of breaking out the party hats.
- Alpine (Pierre Gasly/Franco Colapinto): largely sucked last year, though Gasly snuck into the points here and there. But to be fair, they were also one of the teams that basically punted on 2025 to get ready for 2026. Early spring testing looked decent, though below the Big 4. Worth mentioning that they’re run (unofficially) by “advisor” Flavio Briatore, who straddles the line between “colorful” and “asshole”. Among other things, he’s got a short leash for delivering results, so if you’re looking for a “Team Most Likely To Fire Drivers Mid-Season”, here’s where you put your money.
- Audi (Nico Hulkenberg/Gabrielle Bortoletto): A bit of a question mark because Audi is new to the grid, though unlike Cadillac they bought up an existing team’s infrastructure. They’re also building their own engine for the first time. Hulkenberg is (in baseball terms) an innings-eater — high floor, low ceiling veteran; won’t make dumb mistakes, but also unlikely to win unless Audi’s engineers work a miracle. Bortoletto was one of the six rookies and had some moments where he looked decent. Maybe he can build on it.
- Haas (Oliver Bearman/Esteban Ocon): they’re technically the “other” American team, though they don’t push it as hard in their marketing. Seemed like they got better as 2025 went on. Bearman (also one of the rookies) seemed like he was really putting it together as the year went on. Ocon is… we’ll go with “mercurial”. Sometimes he does surprisingly well; other times he does dumb shit and is pretty forgettable.
- Aston Martin (Fernando Alonso): Right now, they’re shaping up as a disaster. Apparently the car has vibrations so bad that the drivers are complaining of physical pain, and there’s talk they may not even run a full race in Melbourne to give themselves more time to get things right. And this is despite hiring Adrian Newey, who’s supposed to be a Car Whisperer, as their chief engineer. Alonso is the oldest driver on the grid, so hopefully the car doesn’t drive him into retirement; Stroll is… Christ, his dad owns the team. Though, OK, I’ll be nice and point out he seems to drive good in wet weather, I suppose.
- Racing Bulls (Liam Lawson/Arvid Lindblad): Lindblad is not just the only rookie this year, but he’s even at the young end of normal rookie age range. I think he may have been the youngest to ever win a race in F2. Lawson started last year at Red Bull and then got demoted to Racing Bulls (bUt We SwEaR tHeY’rE iNdEpEnDeNt), so he’s still working on his redemption arc. Lawson was also TECHNICALLY one of the 2025 rookies, though he had 8 races spread over 2023 and 2024.
- Williams (Carlos Sainz/Alex Albon): Probably last year’s feel good story. Williams is one of the more storied F1 teams that fell on hard times, and had pretty much sucked within recent memory. But a new team principal (James Vowles) and an infusion of investment cash may have them at least headed the right direction. Best of the midfield last year, and Sainz in particular really seemed to be putting together after a slow start. Though again, they missed the first round of testing because their car was too heavy.
- Ferrari (Charles Leclerc/Lewis Hamilton): it’s Ferrari. Expectations of greatness; excuses not tolerated. But… they’ve been toward the back of the big four recently. When it’s not the car, it’s the strategy choices. Leclerc feels like a guy who could be a champion if he gets the right car under him; until McLaren got their car right, Leclerc seemed like the next most likely challenger to Verstappen’s title. Hamilton is one of the sport’s GOATs, but he seemed to be regretting his life choices mightily last season. Hopefully this season will at least be the Ferrari experience he hoped to have when he left Mercedes.
- Red Bull (Max Verstappen/Isack Hadjar): I don’t especially LIKE Max Verstappen, but the man does amazing things with a car, and he was THIS close to one of the greatest comebacks of all time in 2025. I can respect greatness when I see it. He’s unquestionably going to be in the title mix this year too. Hadjar was probably the best of last year’s rookies, and it earned him a bump from Racing Bulls to Red Bull. If they can get both cars doing well, maybe they’re back in play for the constructors’ championship too.
- Mercedes (George Russell/Kimi Antonelli): Could be a team to watch. Promising spring testing, Russell has been sneaky-good for a while now, and Antonelli may have the highest ceiling of last year’s rookies. He had a rough patch in the middle of the season that stomped on his overall points, but when he was on, he was the one rookie out there who felt like he could legitimately win a race.
- McLaren (Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri): you’ve got the defending champion, a “second” driver who spent a good chunk of the season beating him, and a team that doesn’t want to pick favorites between the two. It’ll be a fascinating year for the dynamics within the team. I just don’t know where they’ll stand overall, since early testing suggests their car is at the low end of the Big 4.
I feel like I could keep going, but since we’re about 12 hours from qualifying and 36 hours from racing, maybe it’s best to just call it for now and check back in once we have some real results. (Or… maybe the next day after I get some sleep because staying up until 1am local for an Australia race is always a bit brutal.) Happy Race Day in advance, and we’ll see you on the other side.
Mental Zoomies 