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, 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 World 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, 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. 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, 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.Team changes
will become the eleventh team, marking Cadillac's first appearance in the series and the first new team on the grid since Haas in. 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. 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 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 former customer team Jordan in. 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 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. Honda had previously collaborated with Aston Martin's predecessor Jordan from to.
Renault will cease to provide engines for Alpine from 2026 after achieving poor results since the beginning of the hybrid power unit regulations in. It will thus be the first season without any Renault engine since the 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 season. Alpine will become a customer team of Mercedes, utilising their engines and gearboxes from this season onwards; up until this point, marked the last time a rendition of Team Enstone used customer Mercedes engines, competing as Lotus.
Driver changes
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 the season. Bottas last competed with Sauber in 2024 and was one of Mercedes's reserve drivers for.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.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 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 Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day.Regulation changes
Financial, power unit, aerodynamic, geometric, and safety regulations are all set to be altered for the 2026 season.Financial regulation
For 2026, the Formula One cost cap for team operational expenditures was increased from $135 million to $215 million. This is primarily due to inflation adjustments and the inclusion of costs that were previously exempted from the cap. Key expenses that remain outside the cost cap include driver salaries, the salaries of the three highest-paid team members, marketing/hospitality costs, and infrastructure investments. A separate cost cap for power unit manufacturers, which was introduced in, was also increased from $95 million to $130 million from 2026 onwards to support the development of the new hybrid engines.Technical regulations
Power units
New power unit regulations are due to be introduced for the 2026 season. The new power units will still produce over, 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 retained. However, the MGU-H, which has also been in use since 2014, will be removed, while the MGU-K output will increase to from. The power output of the internal combustion part of the power unit will decrease to from. 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 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 overtake mode, initially referred to as manual override mode. The wheelbase was reduced from to, the width was reduced from to, and the minimum mass was reduced by. The tyres' widths will also be reduced by on the front pair and by 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 – 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. This will make the 2026 cars approximately two seconds slower a lap than the 2022–2025 generation of cars rather than the four seconds slower initially envisaged. On 17 December 2025, Formula One announced the official terms describing features of the 2026 cars. The term "boost mode" will be used to describe the normal deployment of the energy recovery system to defend or attack; "active aerodynamics" to describe the moveable front and rear wing elements – in both higher and lower drag/downforce configuration; "recharge" to describe when a car is harvesting electrical energy; and "overtake mode" to describe a mode where extra energy stored is used in order to help one driver overtake another, but only if the driver behind is within one second of the one ahead.
Safety features
The regulations for the front impact structure 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 status of a car when it stops on track, providing visual indicators of potential electrical risks, especially in emergency situations.