It’s finally race week again! As the 2026 F1 season is finally upon us, it’s time for another year of F1 predictions. With new regulations, drivers, and teams, it’s sure to be an exciting season.
World Constructors’ Predictions
Talia Lehrer: As any reader of this paper will know by now, I’m a McLaren fan. Last year was an action film sequence of Papaya dominance between teams and Papaya Rules chaos within the team. However, with this new season comes a new set of regulations and a brand new car for each team. The F1 world has been swirling with news the past few months about the Mercedes engine, and the loophole they managed to exploit. This gained them a small advantage, but the other teams found out and have been protesting with the FIA. As it stands now, the teams using the Mercedes engine (Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, Alpine) will be able to compete with the engine for at least part of the season. If McLaren is able to ride on the success of their back-to-back Constructors’ Championships with the advantageous engine, I’m hoping they can score a three-peat. I must also acknowledge that Mercedes and Ferrari are top contenders, as they completed the fastest times during testing in Bahrain, and look the most promising. A lot can change throughout the season as teams implement upgrades, so we will have to hold our breaths and see what excitement each race brings.
Shuwen Zheng: As a McLaren fan for the last 7 years, watching the team climb out of utter mediocrity in 2019 to simultaneously claiming the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships for the first time since 1998 has made last season an unforgettable one. However, it appears unlikely that McLaren's dominant form will continue into 2026 given the regulation changes. A significant portion of this new era of F1 will be defined by its engine rules, and it has been clear from pre-season testing that Mercedes’s new engine has looked as dominant as ever. Besides the usual dominance of Mercedes and McLaren making buzz at testing, the significant performance jump of last year’s two worst-performing teams, Alpine and Sauber (rebranded as Audi), into midfield contention indicates that this year’s Constructors’ Champion will likely be the team with the best engine. Naturally then, Mercedes is in prime position to reclaim its 2010s glory by piling on another Constructors’ Championship this year. Despite Ferrari appearing as a top contender in early testing due to its significant margin over the rest of the field, it is known that most teams tend to sandbag their team performance during testing to not reveal their true pace. Additionally, placing first in testing is a tradition that Tifosi should be used to by now as Ferrari has had multiple brilliant pre-season stints (namely 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2024) yet yielding only disappointment every year. When the 2014 regulations reworked the engine rules, Mercedes’ strong engine performance led the way to an eight-year domination of the F1 landscape until new ground-effects era rules dethroned its position. History may look to repeat itself again as the new rules may lead to another Mercedes championship.
World Drivers’ Predictions
TL: This question may be more complex than predicting the World Constructor’s Champion, as the grid now has 22 talented drivers, four of whom are former World Drivers’ Champions. As I prefaced before, this year has a new car, so anything can happen in the engineering respect. However, it’s crucial to note how talented some of these drivers are, even in subpar vehicles. Verstappan raced to P2 in the standings in a car some coined a tractor. Seeing a fifth Verstappen win would not surprise me. Additionally, I need to highlight the outstanding racers who haven’t yet won the championship, including Oscar Piastri and George Russell. My dream would be a Piastri P1 finish; for him to redeem himself after a heartbreaking second half of the 2025 season. However, on Day 3 of testing in Bahrain he did finish P11. If McLaren plays their cards correctly, and doesn’t sacrifice one driver for the other, the Australian could regain what he lost the year prior.
SZ: With the grid expanding to 22 drivers this year, there is no shortage of very talented and deserving drivers contending for this year’s World Drivers’ Championship. For drivers like Alonso, Hamilton and Verstappen, another WDC will add to their impressive resumes as all-time greats. On the opposite side, a championship will undoubtedly change the legacy of drivers still hunting for their first championship. It is always difficult to count Verstappen out of the WDC given his impressive feats with a rather horrible Redbull last year, but McLaren’s recent success may also indicate that the championship will once again belong to the Papaya. However, I think that George Russell will ride the benefits of the powerful Mercedes engine en route to his first championship. Russell has been nothing but steady throughout his career at Mercedes, always trailing a tad behind the true championship contenders every season, and the 2026 F1 rules shakeup may just be the opportunity he needs to skyrocket into real contention.
Australia Predictions
TL: While writing this, I’m debating if I’m becoming one of the many Ferrari fans who get their hopes up just to be crushed by another team strategy error. Charles Leclerc set the benchmark at testing, and he has proved he has what it takes to win a race. Even racing beside seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc has held his own in the face of extreme pressure. This year, Ferrari unveiled a new rear wing that opens and does a “flip” to reduce drag. The FIA has ruled preliminarily that this solution is legal. The Italian team may not have the new Mercedes engine, but if they can improve their race strategy, Leclerc may have a fighting chance in Melbourne.
SZ: While Oscar Piastri has joked in the past that he considers every race a home race, there is only one place that he truly calls home: Australia. Despite already being one of the greatest Australians to race in F1, his performance at his home race has never exactly been stellar. Missing out on a podium in 2024 and a late blunder costing him a podium finish in 2025, this could be the year that Piastri finally lifts the trophy in Melbourne. Considered the WDC favorite before the second half of last season, his miserable form in the last couple of months saw his chances at a WDC slip away to teammate Lando Norris. Piastri will certainly come into this season with a vengeance knowing that he had come so close to achieving his goal the year prior. With McLaren also running the powerful new Mercedes engine, Piastri has a great chance to redeem himself for his previous home race mishaps and to set himself up in an early lead for the championship.
Most Surprising Team
TL: I’m going to go out on a whim here and say I expect Cadillac to have an okay season. The bar is low, and if they manage to not be last place in the Constructors’, that’s a win for them. With two very experienced drivers and a playing field that’s new for all teams, I could see them battling in the midfield.
SZ: A common thread throughout my predictions has been the new engine, and Alpine is also running the Mercedes one. It is an understatement to say that 2025 is a season to forget for Alpine. While they entered the season with expectations of midfield contention once again, they ended up finishing dead last by a not insignificant margin. There are a myriad of issues that one could point to for Alpine’s 2025 failures, but, at least according to pre-season testing, the 2026 outlook for the team looks much improved. While they may not be talked about a lot every year, do not be surprised if they are able to string together some brilliant results this season.
