Our Predicitons for F1 2026
- RCAP Staff
- 8 hours ago
- 9 min read
Formula One is taking a leap into the unknown in 2026. The beginning of a new era with radically different power units, new cars and some new teams has all the ingredients for an exciting season where no on really knows what the outcome will be. With testing now complete and the season opener in Melbourne just a week away, Luke, Javi and Cass predict how all 12 teams will perform in 2026.
McLaren
Luke
The reigning champions looked to have produced a fairly strong car for the new regulations. They may not be the strongest team on the grid this year, but they will probably still be capable of fighting for wins. It will be interesting to see how Oscar Piastri performs this year, whether losing out on the championship last year negatively affects him or drives him on to be better.
Javi
McLaren as the current title holders don’t look like the favourites at the moment. They have completed a lot of mileage and do look to be fighting at the top of the table, but they seem to lack a little more speed overall.
Cass
Mclaren is an interesting team. Despite leading the championship last season, they do appear on the backend of the top 4 as of right now. They were not necessarily proving why they won last season, they were just there. They don't appear to be as competitive as of yet, but we do have an entire season with upgrades and innovations to come later in the year, but as of right now, they appear on the same level as RedBull.
Ferrari
Luke
Ferrari have been through this time and time again, and will be wary of having high expectations going into the season. But after testing, they are believed to have possibly the strongest car on the grid, or at least in the top two along with Mercedes. Off the back of an awful 2025, both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will be hoping their pace in testing is genuine as they will both want to be the one to end Ferrari’s 19 year wait for a Drivers’ Title.
Javi
Ferrari were seen innovating back in Bahrain with their new idea of the DRS. And even though it failed, they still had a lot to be happy about. They look to be the team closest to Mercedes and their engine has been quite reliable so far. The prancing horse could finally see their fortunes change.
Cass
Ferrari is showing real potential to be one of the big competitors after their success in pre-season testing. They proved they are fast and have shown various strengths, including the creation of a very different rear wing. It appears innovative and differs from their main competitor Mercedes. Although it wasn’t the greatest component, the engine proves it is able to hold up and be a strong and reliable unit for the team. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both appeared very comfortable and confident in the teams ability as well as the new car.
Mercedes
Luke
Performance in testing suggests that Mercedes have aced the new regulations, and that they have the best car right now. This could be the first year we see George Russell be a serious title contender. One thing to look out for, though, is the upcoming vote on banning their compression ratio trick mid-season, which could see their performance drop off in the second half of 2026.
Javi
Mercedes are probably the top team. Though their pre-season has been marked by their engine “exploits”, their pace has been amazing all-round and are considered the front-runners for Melbourne.
Cass
Mercedes, like Ferrari are also looking to be a major leading competitor. The initial tests were of concern when we found out about issues regarding the car, however arriving at testing they showed what they’re made of. Both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have their own points to prove, and it showed during testing. They were strong, topping the time sheets quite a lot, which proves they can lead this season and start it off with a bang.
Red Bull
Luke
Red Bull will be hoping for a better season than 2025. If it wasn't for the brilliance of Max Verstappen they would have been a lot lower than third in the constructors' championship. They have struggled to find a competitive teammate for Verstappen and will be hoping that a new regulation cycle will help Isack Hadjar get closer to Verstappen than his previous teammates. Early signs suggest they are third fastest for now.
Javi
Red Bull have jumped further ahead compared to last year. The RBPT power unit has surprised a lot of people though it was expected that they would come up with a pretty solid power unit. They have shown great pace in the long and short runs and are likely to be third fastest when we get to Australia.
Cass
Red Bull with their new driver lineup of Verstappen and Hadjar are proving to be a well-rounded pairing. Whilst Hadjar is still new; in testing he proved he can hang with the more experienced drivers. This may be useful to the team, especially in pushing Verstappen to improve himself. The collaboration with Ford heading into the new season, has many possibilities. From what we saw in testing, they are still a major competitors, but we do have to wait and see for their true potential coming into the Australian Grand Prix.
Aston Martin
Luke
It looks very much like Honda has let down Alonso yet again. The signs from testing are that their struggles are down to a mix of the Honda engine being tragically underpowered and unreliable, as well as just not being compatible with the rest of the car. The arrival of Adrian Newey looks like it will have an extremely disappointing start. Expect to see them at the back of the grid at least until they can bring some major upgrades.
Javi
Aston Martin have been the big surprise, but for all the wrong reasons. The Adrian Newey designed AMR26 had very high expectations, but chassis issues along with an underpowered and very unreliable Honda PU means they sit around 3 seconds off Mercedes.
Cass
A team struggling to prove their ability in the sport very early on is Aston Martin. With concerns over the car, it leaves many people wondering what they’ll be capable of coming into the new season. We clearly expected a strong team, given Adrian Newey was joining and expected "greatness", we never thought we would see the day they had difficulties. From struggling with RPMs to being almost 4 seconds behind in pre-season testing, its left many of us wondering “what can they actually do?”. Will we see them at the Australian Grand Prix?
Racing Bulls
Luke
2025 was a great season for Racing Bulls, with Isack Hadjar's podium in The Netherlands being the highlight. They look to be in a good position to build on last year and might be fighting at the front of the midfield.
Javi
Racing Bulls have been looking rough. They have done many laps but they seem to lack the ultimate pace they will need to get into Q3. The Ford RBPT powered car might well be ninth fastest in Melbourne.
Cass
Racing Bulls are going to either impress or disappoint their fans. With rookie Arvid Lindblad arriving to the team alongside Liam Lawson, this looks to be a strong pairing. They were quiet in the testing with very little going on, but still putting in the work to figure out the car and its details though. This could be one of the teams to watch this season.
Williams
Luke
2026 was supposed to be the next big step in Wiliiams' journey back to the top and there was plenty of optimism around the team after finishing 2025 in 5th. But missing the Barcelona shakedown and arriving in Bahrain with an overweight and disappointing car could see 2026 go down as a big missed opportunity for them. They still look to be firmly in the midfield battle but they might have been anticipating much more.
Javi
Williams were expected to be towards the front up until the beginning of the pre-season. The reports of them being 30kg overweight and missing the Barcelona shakedown has certainly hurt the Grove team’s expectations, but they managed to recover quite well in Bahrain and seem to be comfortably in the midfield.
Cass
Williams had a very impressive result in the 2025 championship finishing 5th in the title battle. This season however started off rocky with overweight cars and losing lots of testing time compared to their rivals. It put them on the backfoot heading into Bahrain pre-season testing. They can still prove us wrong, with a good lineup with duo pairing Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, but they do have lots of work to go still.
Haas
Luke
Haas are showing early signs of having a great year in 2026. They completed the third most laps in testing and look like they're in the fight to be the leading midfield team. All the signs are looking like this could be the best season so far for the American team.
Javi
Haas has truly improved since Ayo Komatsu’s arrival, and this pre-season shows that they could well be the best midfield team this season. Very few issues for the American outfit was followed up by great pace during testing.
Cass
Haas have proven they are more than the small American team that they were a few years back. With the driver lineup they have now, they look to be a huge threat to the top of the midfield. They had some decent running time in testing, but now await their first official outing in Australia. They can threaten the likes of Williams and Aston Martin with their potential and start the season off strong.
Alpine
Luke
If their pace in testing is genuine, Alpine may have made the biggest improvement from 2025. They finished last in 2025, committing most of their resources to this year's car instead. This paired with the switch to Mercedes engines as Renault ended its F1 engine programme sees them jump up to potentially being the best of the rest. A much improved season could go a long way for a team that also seems to be on the brink of collapse.
Javi
Alpine have seen a great improvement compared to 2025. Now powered by Mercedes, the Enstone team has had a great pre-season and their drivers could well enjoy a great beginning of the season.
Cass
Alpine have improved on their previous years, with more points earned in 2025. However, so far their testing times have proven they are also a team that could be strong. They did plenty of running in testing, some of their times proved what we all expected, that they are more then the previous year's results suggested. Now pairing up with Mercedes and being supplied an engine from them, this could be the vital resource they need to prove themselves in the tough world of F1.
Audi
Luke
Audi had some teething issues with their new in-house power unit and gearbox, but they look to have a good platform to build on as the season progresses. For now they look to be just at the back of the midfield. They had a great 2025 while they were still Sauber and have a really promising driver lineup of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
Javi
Audi turned up to pre-season as one of the best prepared teams, completing a good amount of laps during the whole 3 weeks. They did suffer a minor issue back in Barcelona with their PU but other than that the German outfit does look like it could be in the battle to get to Q3 early in the season.
Cass
Audi can have a good start to their season. They have two great drivers with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. They have to provide a good car for them though, given previous years they have had a car that could not perform but drivers that can. I am unsure on this teams true potential though, having not seen lots of information regarding their time on-track in testing. They appear to be towards the back of the field unfortunately, but are hoping to gain positions when it comes into the new season.
Cadillac
Luke
Expectations for Cadillac's first season have been low. And while they are definitely the slowest on the grid as expected, they had a solid and respectable pre-season. This season is less about results for them and more about gaining experience to hopefully propel them up the grid in the coming years.
Javi
Newcomers Cadillac have enjoyed a pretty solid pre-season. Although very off the pace as expected, the new American team has had zero problems so far and is looking to bring a lot of updates during the first half of the season.
Cass
Cadillac is sort of a dark horse heading into this season. With it being their first official year, I don't necessarily expect brilliant results week in and week out, but I do expect that their driver pairing will provide a great foundation for the team to grow on. Bottas and Perez are essential to this team in 2026, providing their previous knowledge and experience from other years with the big guns like Mercedes and RedBull.
2026 has all the factors to be the most unpredictable season in recent memory. After testing, we have a rough idea of the pecking order. But due to the uncertainty of the new regulations, it could be completely different by the time the chequered flag drops in Abu Dhabi in December.
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