Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
McLaren have little time to enjoy their first championship double of the 21st century. They will be back on track in Barcelona on 26 January for the first test of the sport’s new era.
That’s only 50 days after Lando Norris sealed the drivers’ title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As the back-to-back constructors’ champions, McLaren must enter next year as favourites, even though the regulations are being overhauled.
While Max Verstappen very nearly snatched the title from Norris, McLaren were comfortably the class of the field last year. Their total of 14 race wins was almost double the next-best (Red Bull with eight), and they also scored 34 podiums to the Bulls’ 15.
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McLaren sealed the constructors’ title in Singapore, even though there were still eight races remaining (including Sprints). They believe they have the best line-up on the grid, the most effective structure and the most talented engineers.
Mercedes are excited about their 2026 F1 car as they look to take down McLaren
Despite McLaren’s recent success, there’s enormous hype around Mercedes heading into next year. The last time there were regulation changes of this magnitude (2014), the Silver Arrows put together the most dominant run in F1 history.
Mercedes are trying to downplay their chances publicly, but Italian outlet FUnoAT has received a very different message off the record. Their engine is expected to be a class leader, but they also believe they have built a ‘superb’ chassis, which could be a difference-maker against customer team McLaren.
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The Silver Arrows underperformed during the ground-effect era but feel they have corrected the wind tunnel and CFD issues that inhibited their car development. They have prioritised 2026 ‘more than any other team’.
They have ‘brilliantly overcome’ their internal targets in terms of performance and reliability.
Max Verstappen expects hours of repairs during testing, so the positive reliability noises are particularly encouraging.
What’s the latest on the 2026 Red Bull and Ferrari cars?
While Red Bull were outstanding in the second half of the season under Laurent Mekies, there are some doubts around the team heading into 2026. Helmut Marko has become the latest long-serving pillar to depart the team.
And in terms of the car itself, Red Bull are running their own engine for the first time, albeit with the support of Ford. They expect to be a little off the pace at first.
However, Red Bull aren’t concerned that their 2025 development will affect the RB22. They continued to aggressively upgrade their car, while others shifted all their resources to their new concept.
Meanwhile, there are fears about Ferrari’s 2026 power unit after they lost a number of key engineers. The batteries will be much larger next year as the sport becomes almost 50% electric.
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