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2025 Qatar Grand Prix: Piastri left ‘speechless’ after missing out on victory
2025 Qatar Grand Prix: Bearman furious after botched Haas pit stop
Here are those all-important 2026 line-ups for each and every F1 team.
With the announcement of the Red Bull and Racing Bulls line-ups, the 2026 grid is finally complete. So, which teams have changed and which teams are sticking with their current drivers ahead of a season where there is a very big shake up in the regulations? Read on to find out…
McLaren are fielding an unchanged driver pairing, as they stick with Norris and Piastri for the fourth straight year. Those two took McLaren to their second straight Teams’ crown in 2025, with both remaining in the reckoning for the Drivers’ title heading to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Norris will be entering his seventh season, having only driven for McLaren since joining the F1 grid. In 2025 he became the most experienced McLaren driver, surpassing David Coulthard’s tally of 150 races with the team.
As for Piastri, he challenged Norris across the course of 2025, and is expected to do so again in 2026 with the team opting to let their drivers race and not have a clear No. 1 and No. 2 driver. The Australian will be taking plenty of experience into the new season, after a campaign that tested him both physically and mentally in 2025.
Stella has led McLaren since the end of 2022, having first joined the team back in 2015. He has overseen their rise from the back of the midfield – they finished ninth in 2017 – to champions, with McLaren heading into the new era as the reigning title holders.
Stella has been a part of the F1 paddock for over two decades, having previously worked with Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.
Mercedes waited quite far into the season to confirm their drivers for 2026, after reportedly conversing with Max Verstappen. But they have opted to stick with long-term Mercedes stalwart Russell and young gun Antonelli.
The former has won two races in 2025, finishing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. The latter has enjoyed plenty of success in his debut F1 season, scoring a pole for the Sprint in Miami, along with podium finishes in Canada, Brazil and Las Vegas.
The Silver Arrows will be hoping the new regulations see them return to dominant, winning ways, having not secured the Teams’ title now since 2021.
Wolff has guided Mercedes since 2013, overseeing their period of dominance that saw the team deliver eight straight Constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021. But he will be hoping for more from the 2026 car, after a barren run since the change in regulations in 2022.
Since then, Mercedes have won just seven races across four seasons.
Red Bull have opted to change their line-up for 2026. Verstappen stays, but he will be partnered by Hadjar, who has been promoted from Racing Bulls. Hadjar impressed in his debut season, with the highlight being a podium finish in Zandvoort.
Verstappen will be entering his 11th season with the team, having himself been promoted from what was then Toro Rosso all the way back in 2016. Hadjar is his seventh Red Bull team mate, with previous incumbent Yuki Tsunoda becoming the team’s reserve driver.
Whether Verstappen and Hadjar can work together to deliver further success to the team remains a mystery, but Red Bull will be hoping Hadjar fares better than either Tsunoda or Liam Lawson managed in 2025.
Mekies was promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull midway through the 2025 season to replace Christian Horner. The former Ferrari Sporting Director has overseen Verstappen’s championship charge in 2025, with the Dutchman recording a string of victories in the second half of the season.
Mekies knows Hadjar well from their time together at Racing Bulls too, but he does have a tough job on his hands next season to manage a new driver line-up and the transition from Honda power units to Red Bull Ford Powertrains.
Ferrari’s all-star driver pairing continues into 2026, with Leclerc and Hamilton once again lining up in the famous red overalls of the Scuderia. They will be hoping the new regulations see an upturn in fortune for the team, who at the time of writing have not recorded a single victory in 2025.
Hamilton’s first season with the team has been a difficult one, and he is looking forward to turning the page on a campaign that has yet to yield a single Grand Prix podium. As for Leclerc, after victories last year in Monaco and Monza, the Monegasque driver has also looked frustrated at times in his seventh season with Ferrari.
The team will be hoping their 2026 car delivers for their drivers, with Leclerc and Hamilton boasting no shortage of skills between them, with both proven performers both over one lap and on race day.
Vasseur moved from Sauber/Alfa Romeo to Ferrari in 2023 and was instrumental in bringing Hamilton to Ferrari for the 2025 season and beyond.
The Frenchman has plenty of F1 experience, but he faces a tough task to turn things around after a disappointing 2025 campaign for the team yielded not a single win at the time of writing.
Williams are another team sticking with their existing line-up for 2026, with Albon and Sainz having delivered fifth for the team in the Teams’ Championship in 2025. Sainz bagged two podiums in his debut season with the Grove-based team, while Albon excelled in the first half of the season.
Both brought top team experience to Williams – Albon from Red Bull and Sainz from Ferrari – which has made all the difference to the team, who have recorded their highest finish in the Teams’ standings since 2017.
Vowles joined Williams in 2023, after a 12-year spell at Mercedes. He will enter his fourth season with the team in 2026, but it will be the first time with a car that has been designed completely under his watch after joining the team midway through the current era of regulations.
Racing Bulls have an enforced change in their driver line-up in 2026, with Lawson remaining with the team but being joined by rookie Lindblad after Hadjar departed for Red Bull.
The Kiwi racer will be entering his third season in F1, but only his second full year and first starting out with Racing Bulls. He will be the senior partner to Lindblad, who makes the step up from F2. The Brit has completed a handful of FP1 sessions for Red Bull, as well as some private tests.
He will still be 18 when the season gets underway in Australia in March.
Permane was promoted to Team Principal at Racing Bulls midway through the 2025 season when Mekies in turn was promoted to the same role Red Bull. He joined the team as Racing Director in 2024, having previously worked at Alpine.
Permane has overseen a strong campaign in 2025, with both drivers regularly in the points and the team aiming to secure sixth in the championship. His task next year will be trickier though, as he will be managing a very young rookie in Lindblad.
Alonso and Stroll are retained as Aston Martin’s drivers for 2026. This will be Alonso’s 23rd season on the grid, the Spaniard set to extend many of his own records as he seeks a first World Championship with Aston Martin, in a car partially designed by Adrian Newey.
Aston Martin had a difficult 2025 season, with no podiums to show for themselves. They did opt to stop development on the car very early though, leading to high hopes that Alonso and Stroll will have better machinery to work with in 2026.
As for Stroll, he will be entering his 10th F1 season, and eighth with Aston Martin (who were formally Racing Point).
Adrian Newey will take over from Andy Cowell as Team Principal at Aston Martin in 2026, the first time the legendary designer has held the reins of an F1 team in earnest. Cowell remains with the team in the role of Chief Strategy Officer.
Newey will take charge of the team for the start of the new era of regulations, with the pressure very much on his shoulders to start delivering results for the team that has invested so much in this project – including putting their new wind tunnel to good use.
The American team have stuck with their line-up for a second straight season, with Ocon partnering Bearman at Haas. Bearman had an impressive debut season for the team, regularly finishing in the points – especially in the latter part of the season, once the team bolted on their last big upgrade.
Ocon knows he has his work cut out against his team mate, who will be bringing even more experience to the table in 2026 – although it remains to be seen whether the new cars will suit one more than the other.
The Frenchman will be entering his 10th season in F1 in 2026, having previously driven for Manor, Force India and Renault/Alpine.
Komatsu took over from Guenther Steiner at Haas at the start of 2024, and has steered the team up the order after they finished bottom of the standings in the 2023 season. With Gene Haas still overseeing things from behind the scenes, Komatsu is a steady pair of hands for Haas as they move into the new era of regulations.
Another team sticking with their driver line-up is Kick Sauber, who will become Audi next year. The experience of Hulkenberg combined well with the rookie enthusiasm of Bortoleto in 2025, as Kick Sauber recorded some famous results.
The most memorable was Hulkenberg finally scoring his maiden podium in F1, the German grabbing third place at Silverstone to stand on the rostrum for the first time in 238 attempts.
As for his team mate, Bortoleto managed a handful of top-10 finishes but will be hoping for better on home soil next season, after crashing out in front of his adoring fans in Sao Paulo.
Wheatley took over as Team Principal at Kick Sauber midway through the 2025 season, having joined the team after many years of working as Red Bull’s Sporting Director.
He has been working closely with Mattia Binotto, who serves as Chief Operating Officer as the Sauber brand fades out of F1 to be replaced by Audi.
Alpine swapped their driver line-up after a handful of races in 2025, with Jack Doohan making way for Colapinto. The Argentine racer partnered Gasly for the remainder of the season, and the team have opted to stick with that line-up for next year.
Gasly was signed early – Colapinto had to wait until the last handful of races to find out his future. He is the only current driver not to score in 2025, in what has been a difficult season for the team with an uncompetitive car.
Nonetheless, Gasly has managed to score a handful of points, with the Frenchman set to lead the team into the new era of regulations in what will be his fourth season with Alpine. Colapinto will be heading into his third season – but the first where he has actually gotten to test the car.
Alpine do not have a confirmed Team Principal for next season. After the departure of Oliver Oakes, Flavio Briatore has assumed the role, along with Managing Director Steve Nielsen.
Not one but two veterans of the sport will return to the grid in 2026, as Valtteri Bottas gets set to pair up with Sergio Perez at Cadillac.
Both have been handed second chances after losing their seats at Kick Sauber and Red Bull respectively at the end of 2024. In front of them will be the job of trying to turn newcomers Cadillac – who become F1’s 11th team – into serious competitors.
They’ll also be looking to put a bit of pep back in their steps after difficult final seasons in F1 for both. Powering Cadillac, meanwhile, will be Ferrari engines, as General Motors work on their own power unit, set to be introduced for 2029.
Former Marussia Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon will be at the controls for Cadillac’s first season, as they become F1’s first brand-new entity since Haas in 2016.
“We know it's a huge challenge,” Lowdon told F1.com earlier in 2025. “It's very difficult to quantify what success can look like other than we just have to execute as well as we possibly can and gain respect from the other competitors.”
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