This may very well be one of many trickiest seasons to foretell for a few years. However we are able to strive tackling a number of the many intriguing questions hanging over the upcoming championship.
Will this be the ultimate season for Fernando Alonso? Will Ferrari and Mercedes rebound from their disappointing 2025 campaigns? Give your views on these questions and extra beneath.
Ferrari vindicated
The 2025 season was a grim expertise for Ferrari, particularly for brand spanking new arrival Lewis Hamilton. The staff went win-less for the primary time since 2021 – with the only real exception of the Shanghai dash race, which proved a false daybreak for its celebrity signing.
Based on Ferrari, they downed instruments on their 2025 challenge early so as to enhance their possibilities of success beneath the brand new technical laws which arrive this yr. However they aren’t the one staff to have carried out that, and their lack of path final yr leaves questions hanging over the effectiveness of their operation. Will they no less than win a race this yr?
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Do you agree Ferrari will win a grand prix throughout 2026?
Strongly disagree (5%)
Barely disagree (12%)
Neither agree nor disagree (10%)
Barely agree (44%)
Strongly agree (29%)
Complete Voters: 41
Loading …Throughout for Alonso
Essentially the most skilled System 1 driver of all time will have fun his forty fifth birthday this yr – and mark the twentieth anniversary of his final world championship win. He has dropped hints he might not proceed past this yr no matter how aggressive his Aston Martin is. Will Alonso lastly cling up his helmet?
Do you agree Fernando Alonso will retire from System 1 on the finish of the yr?
Strongly disagree (3%)
Barely disagree (28%)
Neither agree nor disagree (10%)
Barely agree (43%)
Strongly agree (15%)
Complete Voters: 40
Loading …Horner returns
Christian Horner’s shock ousting from Purple Bull after 20 years in cost was one of many shock tales of final yr. Since then rumours have persevered he’ll return with one other staff.
Ferrari and Aston Martin have denied they’re pursuing the person who moulded Purple Bull into the potent pressure they’re as we speak. Countless hypothesis swirls across the risk he may purchase into Alpine’s operation. Will Horner be again on the helm of an F1 staff earlier than the season is over?
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Do you agree Christian Horner will take cost of a System 1 staff earlier than 2026 is over?
Strongly disagree (22%)
Barely disagree (27%)
Neither agree nor disagree (7%)
Barely agree (39%)
Strongly agree (5%)
Complete Voters: 41
Loading …Bearman banned
Oliver Bearman ended final season with probably the most penalty factors of any driver – and was arguably lucky to not have much more than he did. The Haas driver solely collected a single penalty level for forcing Liam Lawson off on a straight in the course of the dash race at Interlagos.
Consequently he ended the yr simply two penalty factors away from an computerized race ban. The Haas driver should keep away from amassing two additional factors over the primary six rounds if he’s to keep away from triggering a ban. Will he keep away from being dominated out for a race?
Do you agree Oliver Bearman will acquire a one-race ban in the course of the 2026 season?
Strongly disagree (15%)
Barely disagree (35%)
Neither agree nor disagree (8%)
Barely agree (30%)
Strongly agree (13%)
Complete Voters: 40
Loading …Factors for Cadillac
System 1 has a brand new staff for the primary time in a decade. Cadillac have labored for years on their entry (beforehand beneath the Andretti identify) and employed an skilled, race-winning duo in Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. However the usual of competitors in System 1 has grown remarkably excessive in recent times.
Haas set a excessive bar once they turned the final new staff to enter F1 in 2016, scoring factors on their debut. Nevertheless that they had the benefit of having the ability to supply a major quantity of their components from Ferrari – Cadillac have needed to do extra of their very own growth. Given how shut the sphere was final yr, will Cadillac handle to attain some extent of their first season?
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Will Cadillac rating some extent throughout 2026?
Strongly disagree (10%)
Barely disagree (20%)
Neither agree nor disagree (0%)
Barely agree (40%)
Strongly agree (28%)
Complete Voters: 40
Loading …One other season for Hadjar
This time 12 months in the past we have been questioning whether or not Liam Lawson would safe his future at Purple Bull. He lasted simply two rounds earlier than the staff dropped him for Yuki Tsunoda, who was additionally not retained.
Throughout that point Purple Bull changed staff principal Christian Horner with Laurent Mekies. Will he be sufficiently impressed by Hadjar’s efficiency in his second season of F1 to retain him for 2027?
Will Purple Bull give Isack Hadjar a second season on the staff in 2027?
Strongly disagree (3%)
Barely disagree (10%)
Neither agree nor disagree (0%)
Barely agree (46%)
Strongly agree (41%)
Complete Voters: 39
Loading …Mercedes again on prime
The staff which dominated F1 within the years after the V6 hybrid turbo laws have been launched didn’t thrive within the short-lived ‘floor impact’ period. After eight consecutive constructors’ championship titles as much as 2021, Mercedes have gained simply seven grands prix during the last 4 years.
Some have advised the introduction of latest technical laws for 2026 will play to Mercedes’ engine-building strengths. However Mercedes haven’t even been in a position to beat their very own buyer groups lately, lagging behind McLaren. Will the manufacturing facility staff reassert themselves beneath the brand new guidelines?
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Do you agree Mercedes would be the highest-placed Mercedes-powered staff in 2026?
Strongly disagree (10%)
Barely disagree (31%)
Neither agree nor disagree (18%)
Barely agree (26%)
Strongly agree (15%)
Complete Voters: 39
Loading …Herta good points superlicence
IndyCar race-winner Colton Herta goes to stunning lengths to spice up his possibilities of gaining an F1 race seat. He has switched from the class, through which he was already a championship runner-up and its youngest ever race-winner, to compete in System 2, which gives much more FIA superlicence factors.
An eighth-place end within the championship ought to guarantee he passes the 40-point threshold to have the ability to race in F1. Nevertheless even when he finishes decrease than that he may accrue further superlicence factors by showing in follow periods. If Herta can clear the final hurdle he stands a powerful change of gaining a race seat at Cadillac for 2027 – however will he guarantee he will get that likelihood?
Will Colton Herta acquire the superlicence factors he wants to have the ability to race in F1 in 2027?
Strongly disagree (5%)
Barely disagree (8%)
Neither agree nor disagree (11%)
Barely agree (16%)
Strongly agree (55%)
Complete Voters: 38
Loading …Extra dash races
F1 appears decided to cram but extra dash races into the schedule. Having elevated the tally to 6, F1 has modified the venues of many dash races this yr, seemingly in preparation to extend the depend to as many as 12 in future seasons.
The championship’s enthusiasm is obscure given how processional they’re, however F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali clearly believes they’re the long run. Will F1 add much more dash races to the calendar for 2027?
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Will FOM put extra dash races on the F1 calendar for 2027?
Strongly disagree (8%)
Barely disagree (3%)
Neither agree nor disagree (3%)
Barely agree (51%)
Strongly agree (27%)
Complete Voters: 37
Loading …All the way down to the ultimate spherical
Final yr F1 loved its first championship-deciding season finale involving greater than two drivers since 2010. However this yr is doubtlessly the toughest season to foretell for a few years: we may very well be about to see a down-to-the-wire title struggle between a number of drivers, an utter rout the place the end result is apparent after half-a-dozen occasions, or something in between. Do you’ve a hunch we’ll see one other championship showdown in December?
Will the 2026 F1 drivers‘ title be determined on the last spherical?
Strongly disagree (43%)
Barely disagree (35%)
Neither agree nor disagree (14%)
Barely agree (3%)
Strongly agree (3%)
Complete Voters: 37
Loading …I say
Ferrari made an honest fist of adapting to the final new set of technical laws in 2022 and I consider they’re able to doing the identical once more. So I believe they’ll win no less than one spherical this yr, although whether or not they can maintain that as a aggressive pressure over the next seasons is one other matter. I additionally suspect Mercedes will discover themselves again in entrance of McLaren – to not point out Williams and Alpine – this yr.
Fernando Alonso’s comment final yr that he’s extra more likely to retire if Aston Martin are aggressive this yr struck me as a means of claiming he expects the staff will swoop for one more prime driver – doubtlessly Max Verstappen – if they begin the brand new guidelines period strongly. Both means, I really feel the chances are higher than even that he’ll lastly cling up his helmet on the finish of 2026.
I anticipate Christian Horner will return finally, however when the chance is true for him to take action, and I’m not satisfied that may occur this yr. F1 growing the variety of dash races to 12 seems to be like a grim inevitability nonetheless.
I don’t price Oliver Bearman’s possibilities of avoiding a ban as a result of he has so typically complained about clear penalty calls which have gone towards him. Except Haas have locked him in a room with the sporting laws over the low season I wouldn’t wager towards him reaching the dreaded 12 penalty level threshold.
Hadjar impressed me final yr so I’ll tip him to get a second season at Purple Bull. The reset within the laws must also imply Purple Bull’s automobile is much less finely-honed to his staff mate’s preferences, no less than to start with. I’ll additionally tip Cadillac to choose up no less than one level, which must be doable assuming reliability can be removed from good for everybody within the first yr with new engines, and Herta to qualify for a superlicence.
As for a last spherical title decider, I believe it’s unlikely. When laws modifications like these occur, one staff tends to realize an higher hand, and even when they aren’t dominant I believe the drivers’ title can be determined earlier than Yas Marina.
You say
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