From Apple to Cadillac: Everything you ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season

Nick Bromberg Mon, March 2, 2026 at 5:59 PM UTC

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Can Lando Norris defend his 2025 Formula 1 title in a season of sweeping change? (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) ()

The 2026 Formula 1 season is upon us.

After testing sessions in Barcelona and Bahrain, the season officially begins late Saturday night in the United States (11 p.m. ET, Apple TV) as the Australian Grand Prix kicks off a season with a ton of changes. Here's what you to get up to speed before the season gets started.

How to watch F1

United States F1 broadcasts are moving from ESPN’s networks to Apple. All practice and qualifying sessions in addition to every race are available via Apple TV. An Apple TV subscription is $12.99 a month or $99 a year.

If you’ve previously used the F1 TV app on your phone or tablet, you can convert it over to an Apple TV subscription to watch the races. Apple will also give U.S. viewers the ability to watch the world feed that F1 TV has been providing or the Sky Sports feed from the United Kingdom that ESPN had been simulcasting.

Event coverage will be available in 4K and Apple TV subscribers can also build their own advanced multi-view broadcasts including telemetry and driver cameras.

The cars are smaller and DRS is gone

One of the first things viewers will notice at the Australian Grand Prix is that the cars look different from the previous generation. Sure, they’ll still resemble an F1 car, but both the front and rear wings will have substantial differences.

The new F1 rules were implemented to reduce as much downforce as possible on cars in an attempt to help drivers follow closer behind cars ahead and also present more overtaking opportunities. The biggest rule changes come to the floors of the cars, where teams had been putting a lot of engineering resources to keep their cars as aerodynamically attached to the track as possible.

As the wings on the cars are completely transformed, DRS has also disappeared. Drivers will now be able to adjust wing flaps on both sets of wings via a feature called “Active Aero.” On straightaways, drivers can move certain flaps downward to decrease drag and ideally boost top speed to help passing.

Previously, drivers were able to lower a flap on their rear wings in DRS zones if they were within a second of a car ahead. Now, a driver can adjust the wings no matter where the car ahead is on track.

The engines are vastly different

As F1 and its engine manufacturers push through advancements in hybrid technology, the power units in the cars will still need gasoline but rely far more on electric technology to produce horsepower.

Roughly half of an engine’s power output will depend on its electrification after a far smaller percentage of the engine had relied on electrical power. That has led to a lot of drivers needing to adjust their driving styles during testing to make sure that their engines are charged at the right times for ideal lap times — and to make passes and also defend from passes.

Drivers have been lifting and coasting at the end of straightaways to help preserve power and also dropping into lower gears in certain corners during testing to keep the RPMs higher in their engines during testing.

The new engine rules haven’t totally impressed the garage. Max Verstappen was vociferous in his dislike of the way he has to manage his engine power, while Lewis Hamilton called the energy management rules “ridiculously complex.” It’s going to be a learning process for everyone involved, especially at the start of the season.

Hello Audi, Cadillac and Ford

Cadillac becomes the 11th team on the grid with drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez. The team is still developing its own motors, so the Cadillac team will have Ferrari engines in its cars for the next few years. Adding two veterans with F1 wins under their belt was a clear sign that Cadillac wanted drivers with familiarity in the series even if there are so many things new in 2026.

Audi has taken over what was the Sauber team with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. The manufacturer will be running its own engines. Ford, meanwhile, has partnered with Red Bull Racing as part of Red Bull’s Red Bull Ford Powertrains engine building program.

It’s the first time that Red Bull has built its own engines from scratch after a previous deal with Honda and the Ford power units will also be in the Racing Bulls cars.

Is Honda in for a rough return?

Speaking of Honda, the automaker has teamed with Aston Martin after the Honda name left F1 after the 2021 season. Red Bull had been running its own Red Bull Powertrains engines with Honda support over the past four seasons.

Aston Martin’s testing results have left, uh, a lot to be desired, however. The team was the slowest throughout the first two preseason tests as it has struggled with reliability, power and gear box issues.

Those struggles may be worse than many realized, too. According to a report in Motorsport on Monday, the team could end up starting the Australian Grand Prix only to retire after a few laps.

Aston Martin has made a big play to compete with McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari by hiring former Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey to lead the development of its 2026 car. And the Aston Martin has a lot of differentiating features from the 10 other teams on the grid.

But the car’s full aerodynamic capability won’t be on display if it’s underpowered compared to its competitors. Honda has said it was dealing with engine vibrations and it’s been reported that Newey said the team’s battery was also not fully charging compared to its peers. Don’t be surprised if Aston Martin is trailing the field at the start of the season. And it could take a while for the team to catch up, even if it makes big developmental strides.

Is McLaren still the team to beat?

McLaren emerged as the best team over the last two seasons, but its edge could be totally wiped away with the new regulations.

Mercedes — which supplies McLaren’s engines — is considered the team to beat ahead of the season and Ferrari had a very strong testing performance. A return to form for the Scuderia would make F1 even more compelling. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were non-factors at times in 2025 as the team went winless.

Red Bull’s Ford partnership also seems to have started smoothly. Given all the uncertainties, it could genuinely be a four-way battle for the constructor’s title.

George Russell enters as the favorite

Oddsmakers are so bullish on Mercedes’ chances that George Russell is the favorite at +200 to win his first F1 title. Four-time champion Max Verstappen is at +300, while Leclerc is at +400 and Hamilton is at +600.

That means defending F1 champion Lando Norris is 10-1 to win back-to-back titles along with Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. Oscar Piastri is 14-1 and last among the title favorites. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is 40-1 — and a sucker bet unless you think the team has been sandbagging — while Williams’ Carlos Sainz is 150-1.

Who else is new on the grid?

As Bottas and Perez return to F1 after a year off, there aren’t many other changes to driver lineups across the series. The only other change comes in the Red Bull family, after Yuki Tsunoda was dropped from the No. 2 seat at Red Bull in favor of Isack Hadjar.

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Hadjar drove for Racing Bulls in 2025 alongside Tsunoda and then Liam Lawson after Red Bull swapped Lawson and Tsunoda early in the season. Lawson is back at Racing Bulls in 2026 along with former F2 champion Arvid Lindblad.

A second Grand Prix in Spain, Monaco moves to June

The 2026 Formula 1 calendar will include the addition of the Spanish Grand Prix in September. The race will be held at the Madring street circuit around the IFEMA Exhibition Center in Madrid.

That’s the only new race on the 24-race schedule as Imola is off the calendar.

The Monaco Grand Prix has moved to June as the Canadian Grand Prix has moved to Memorial Day weekend. The race in Montreal will be held the same day as the Indianapolis 500, but will start at 4 p.m. ET in an attempt to avoid a direct conflict with the 500.

2026 Formula 1 schedule

March 8: Australian Grand Prix

March 15: Chinese Grand Prix

March 29: Japanese Grand Prix

April 12: Bahrain Grand Prix

April 19: Saudi Arabia Grand Prix

May 3: Miami Grand Prix

May 24: Canadian Grand Prix

June 7: Monaco Grand Prix

June 14: Barcelona Grand Prix

June 28: Austrian Grand Prix

July 5: British Grand Prix

July 19: Belgian Grand Prix

July 26: Hungarian Grand Prix

Aug. 23: Dutch Grand Prix

Sept. 6: Italian Grand Prix

Sept. 13: Spanish Grand Prix

Sept. 26: Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oct. 11: Singapore Grand Prix

Oct. 25: United States Grand Prix

Nov. 1: Mexican Grand Prix

Nov. 8: Brazilian Grand Prix

Nov. 21: Las Vegas Grand Prix

Nov. 29: Qatar Grand Prix

Dec. 6: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Source: “AOL Sports”