After finally finding some time after a manic first two weekends of the brand-new season, this article is all about next year as I will be making my Predictions for what the 2026 Formula 1 Grid will look like! As always, they’ll be no changes for some teams and changes for others, that’s just the way F1 works, but I’ll also be sticking to my usual order of going from most confident to least confident! However, maybe the most exciting part of this article comes at the end as I will be mentioning Cadillac for the first time (and trust me, it definitely won’t be the last time)! So, without further ado, let’s get going!
McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Just like last year, I’m most confident about McLaren’s lineup heading into a new season! McLaren are on fire right now, they’ve had the best car for the large majority of the past 11 months, and they arguably have the best lineup to with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri becoming multiple-time Grand Prix winners! On the basis of the first 2 weekends of this season, both Lando and Oscar also look set to challenge for their first Drivers’ World Title, and it’s pretty clear that neither guy is leaving any time soon!
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Just like McLaren, I can’t see a world where either Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton aren’t in red come the start of 2026! Both guys are on multi-year deals, Charles is Ferrari, he’s built it to be his team, and Lewis is aiming to win a record-breaking 8th World Championship at the Scuderia, something he’s going to need time to achieve! Ultimately, there’s not much more to add other than my feeling that Hamilton not being at Ferrari next year would be even more insane than his move in the first place!
Williams: Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
Williams look to be set when it comes to their driver lineup! Firstly, Carlos Sainz has signed up with the belief that Williams will deliver him a car capable of winning in the new set of regulations, so him leaving would make much sense. Secondly, Alex Albon has stood by Williams for years despite the consistent struggle for pace, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to leave either. Thirdly, it wouldn’t make any sense for Williams to change their lineup because both Alex and Carlos are really good!
Audi: Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
It feels both nice and strange to write the name Audi here! On their drivers, Nico Hulkenberg has only come to Sauber to be there for the start of the Audi project, so he feels like a shoe-in. Gabriel Bortoleto is the reigning back-to-back F2 and F3 Champion, so there is really no reason why Audi would take him on in his Rookie Season only to get rid of him before the name change! Honestly, these top 4 teams are all pretty easy to predict!
Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto
Now this is where we get our first change! On Pierre Gasly, he’s got a multi-year deal left with Alpine, he’s the leader of that team, and I think Alpine are very keen to have at least one French driver competing for them! However, I can’t see Jack Doohan being there next season mainly because I expect Franco Colapinto to get a drive! Since Alpine made the decision to pay a good amount of money to sign Franco as their Test and Reserve Driver, it’s very much felt like the writing’s been on the wall for Jack, no matter how well he performs. The only tiny doubt I have with this Prediction is whether some other teams we’ll get to later take interest in Gasly, but I’m not sure Pierre would feel the same way!
Haas: Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman
Going back to teams that will retain their driver pairing, I expect Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman to remain at Haas for a little while yet! Esteban Ocon is experienced, he’s talented, and he could very much push himself to be Haas’ greatest-ever driver, I really think that’s possible! As for his teammate, Oliver Bearman is super quick, he knows the Haas team so well, and I could see him being a lot like George Russell was at Williams, where he just waits around for the seat at Ferrari to come! Ultimately, Ocon and Bearman is a strong lineup for Haas, especially if they can give them the performance they had in China on a regular basis!
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Whilst change isn’t impossible, I wouldn’t expect it with Aston Martin! Firstly, the team is putting pretty much all of their resources into 2026, and having Adrian Newey for the brand-new technical regulations is massive! Fernando Alonso is fully eyeing a go at a third World Championship in 2026, that’s why he moved to the team to begin with, and even though I have more doubts about this than most years, I think Aston will want to keep Lance for 2026 at least!
Mercedes: George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes’ 2026 lineup is fully based around one driver, and it’s neither of the two they’ve currently got! Both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s contracts are up at the end of the year, meaning it’s a lot easier for Merc to get rid of (at least) one of them come the end of the season. Ultimately, we all know that Toto Wolff wants Max Verstappen, and if he has the option to sign Max Verstappen, he will do it, no matter how much investment he’s put in his current drivers. George Russell is supremely talented, he continues to show that, and it wouldn’t make sense to get rid of him. However, Kimi Antonelli is very much a long-term project, so it would make even less sense to get rid of him at the end of the year. Because of that, plus my theories around Max, I am going to say that Mercedes will keep George and Kimi for another year, but I’m really not convinced!
Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar
I don’t even know anymore! At the time of writing this, it seems to be pretty clear that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson at Red Bull going forward, and that’s the reason why I have neither guy in this seat next year. See, there’s no way Liam can go back to Red Bull after this, certainly not at the start of next year, and my lack of faith in things working out well for Yuki means I can’t see him being kept either. I’ve put Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull seat, but that’s mainly down to a process of elimination! We then move on to Max Verstappen, the 4-time World Champion, who hasn’t looked particularly happy with his Red Bull since Spain last year, and he could easily walk from both Red Bull and the sport itself if he wanted to! I’m going to say that Max will stay at Red Bull for 2026 as it’s a brand-new era of cars and he won’t be able to know the pecking order like he would come the end of 2026, but again, I’m really not sure what’s going on anymore!
Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad
If Red Bull’s driver lineup for next year was a mystery, then what on earth is Racing Bulls’?! I feel confident about Arvid Lindblad, I’ll say that, as soon as I first learnt about this kid and watched him in Formula 3 last year, it very much felt like he was another young driver that was destined to join Formula 1 at a young age. However, his teammate could be absolutely anyone, and I’ve ultimately gone with Liam Lawson on the basis that it definitely won’t be Yuki Tsunoda, there’s no one else in the Red Bull Family that stands out, and I don’t think they’ll look outside after what happened with both Nyck de Vries and Sergio Perez (particularly in 2023 and 2024)! It’s also worth remembering that Pierre Gasly went back to the sister team for a good 2 and a half years, so Liam could easily stay for at least 2026, that’s if he makes it to the end of 2025 first!
Cadillac: Sergio Perez and Colton Herta
Here we go! There are a lot of different names that could slot in at Cadillac, in fact I’ll probably do another article about it someday, but for me, the person that makes the most sense to join them is Sergio Perez! Checo is massive, he is so popular in both Mexico and other parts of the world, he is commercially one of the best drivers you could have in Formula 1, and he’s pretty damn experienced too! It would also be a great move for Perez himself as it would be a really good opportunity for him to prove that his final years at Red Bull weren’t a reflection of just how talented he actually is (which is already kind of becoming clear without him even being on the Grid)! Now with the second seat, Cadillac have been pretty vocal about the fact that they will sign an American driver, and based on that, the best option would most likely be Colton Herta! Colton has flirted with the idea of being in Formula 1 before, coming close once with AlphaTauri, but the fact that Cadillac are sort of connected with Andretti (the team Herta drivers for in IndyCar) means it would probably be a much easier transition into the team for him than others. If they wanted to go with youth, Jak Crawford could be an option, but I feel more confident in saying that he’ll be Cadillac’s Reserve Driver for at least their first season! Ultimately, though, I have no idea what Cadillac are going to do, I mean Colton Herta has to perform well in IndyCar in order to even be eligible for a spot in Formula 1, but either way, it’s going to be fascinating!
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