Some thoughts about the Cars and Power Units of 2026

For most of Formula One's history, teams could be divided into two categories: Works engine manufacturers and customers. The works teams used their own power units, while customers bought engines from others. Of the eleven teams lining up on the grid this year, five different engine manufactures are represented, and with three teams becoming new works teams (Aston, Red Bull and Audi will provide their own engines).

Now that we have seen the most of the new car launches and a pre-season shakedown in Barcelona, we can start to look ahead at how these high performance vehicles might stack up in the season ahead. The new technical guidelines shifts the vehicle performance to a near 50:50 split between fuel power and electric and add new active aero components (Goodbye to the DRS era, you will be missed). With this change teams are having to break ground on all new ways to build their cars. Since the rules are new for everyone, we are now seeing, for the first time how the teams have interpreted the rules and set up the new machinery.

Despite the initial rumor and speculation, 2026 is still, in reality, a toss up. All of the talk on who will be good and who won't is still just a guess based on "well they were really good at this thing 5 years ago in a different regulation set that is sorta similar to the principles of the upcoming regulations." We saw teams put in laps with new cars but these were largely to put mileage on the P/Us, work out any day one gremlins, and make early reliability assessments. Its doubtful that any team put any real stress on the vehicles or ran anything close to a Quali or Race program. What we did see was the first road worthy concepts that each team brought to the party.

The shakedown sessions in Barcelona were "closed door" so there is no "official" record of performance and the posted times are speculative at best.

BUT THATS WHAT WERE HERE FOR!

2026 Teams and P/U providers

The House of Mercedes:

Mercedes-

The Merc works team enters this year as the betting favorite. I would expect to see the silver arrows as contenders for the throne. The team seem to have a strong basis for success in an engine centric car philosophy. Testing saw them put the most laps of any other team, almost 100 more than any other team, and two of the top five fastest times. This could likely be hinting at stronger reliability for factory team. In a field filled with new cars testing new designs, not only pace but reliability could be a deciding factor.

McLaren-

The returning champions! The papaya outfit enter the grid with high, yet uncertain expectations. Did they capture lighting in a bottle last year? Will the favored Mercedes power unit carry them to the top step? I think McLaren were victims of the right place at the right time last year. The end of any regulation set always is the most competitive and McLaren committed all of the resources they had to win. In a cost cap era and with only so much time and money to go around will McLaren now feel the cost of ensuring last years win? I suspect so.

Alpine-

The newest customer team. The Enstone based crew enter 2026 with a great deal of uncertainty. With what has historically been a factory works team, Renault has abandoned their engine program in favor of the Mercedes P/U for the upcoming season. Alpine feels like a program adrift. Are they trying to hitch their cart to the favored pony with the Mercedes power train in hopes of finding some possibly program reviving, success? The testing was pretty middle-of-the-road for the team, not as may laps and not the fastest. More importantly not the fewest laps and not the slowest, so perhaps this is a step in the right direction after all.

Williams-

Williams "elected not to participate" in the shake down and testing session in Barcelona. All may not be well back at Williams HQ. James Vowles is no stranger to the unorthodox, but has the "run by a spreadsheet" program missed the mark? Last seasons rhetoric at Williams was to focus all on the '26 car and break everything on the '25. The early rumors had the Williams unfinished and overweight. The latest statements from Williams have it coming in just heavier than than the Factory Mercedes car. 2026 may not be the year for the number crunchers at Williams. Nothing much to speculate about so far but based on what we are seeing out of the rest of the field I am less than optimistic for Oxfordshire based squad.

The Ferrari Stable:

Ferrari-

The Ferrari Factory team enters the new season optimistic that it can once again gain a foothold on the top step. Are we tired of saying "This is our year" yet? Well... THIS IS OUR YEAR! Maybe. During testing the Ferrari did have a stoppage that may be evidence of some reliability issues in the new car, but the team are saying it was intentional to preserve mileage. Time will tell. Otherwise, Lewis Hamilton did turn in the fastest time during the 5 day exercise. There are glimpses of hope for the Prancing Horse, but if we are being honest the issues are not with the car.

Haas-

The Haas program ran for only three days of testing however still turned in the third most laps and Esteban Ocon logging the 10th fastest lap. The team once know as the baby Ferrari due to the close relations with the works program and shared resources, this year have signed on new development sponsor, Toyota Gazoo Racing (Toyota's performance racing brand). Could this be the earliest signal of a Toyota return to F1? The car was plagued with reliability issues during testing, some being noted as being quite serious. They claim to still be developing but I have a sneaky suspicion Haas may be competing for, not the slowest American team.

Cadillac-

The newest program to line up on the F1 grid. Cadillac has a deal in place to be a Ferrari customer team through 2028 with the expectation that GM will be bringing its own P/U online in '29. The program has faced development challenges since day one. They have self admitted that the car may not be a front runner but if the Ferrari P/U proves reliable, and so far its not looking great, there could be points for persistence in their future.

The New Factory Teams:

The following teams are now either producing power units for themselves for the first time or working with a brand new supplier, and so far we don't know much about what to expect.

Red Bull / Racing Bulls-

Red Bull is developing its own power units with Ford and no one knows how good they are yet. The concern is where the new Ford powered cars will stack up with the rest of the field. Is the program starting all over and having to compete with the other teams beginning anew at the back? Or is the new Car and P/U capable of hitting the ground running and holding its own against the factory and established long term customer teams? So far there isn't a whole lot to show one way or the other. It may be week one before we get an answer. Red Bull have a tendency to not fully show what the car can do until race day.

Audi-

Audi is a technically new outfit to the paddock this year, replacing the Sauber team. The new team is developing its own p/u and this will present them with a lot of new challenges. The initial reports coming from the Audi camp were that the new engine was "more powerful than expected". However, after a pretty muted showing during testing sessions there may still be work to do ahead of the new season.

Aston Martin-

This might be the most interesting new pairing this year. Aston Martin signed a deal with Honda after the Japanese manufacturer closed operations with Red Bull. Adrian Newey at the helm of the group now working with an engine group he won multiple titles with at RB has to be worth something. If there is one thing that we all should have learned by now, its an Adrian Newey designed car is something to be watched. The car that Aston brought to the shake down sessions showed design features that exist nowhere else on the grid. Did Newey find a way to break the system again? Or is he chasing theoretical concepts that just don't work outside of the wind tunnel? Unfortunately they elected to arrive two days late and not to put many laps on the new car, so there isn't much to see just yet. I would be both shocked, yet simultaneously not at all surprised if the Aston was fighting for podiums this year.