26 Takeaways from F1 2026 So Far

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26 Takeaways from F1 2026 So FarHearst Owned

Formula 1 is on an enforced spring break due to the abandonment of planned grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but what have we learned so far this season? Here are 26 takeaways from F1 2026 so far…

Antonelli has stepped up​

Kimi Antonelli has had the fair share of fortune on his side this year, but the 19-year-old has stepped up. There were glimpses towards the end of last season—particularly his pace in São Paulo and Las Vegas—but he is now stringing together a weekend far more assuredly.

Once up front in China and Japan, Antonelli was unstoppable, and he now knows how to win grands prix. So that’s a big confidence boost. There will be tougher weekends ahead, after all, Antonelli is only in season two, but 2026 couldn’t have started much better.

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Russell faces a challenge​

When George Russell won in Australia, it was a case of the pre-season favorite delivering on expectations. He’d done the hard work after three years at Williams, and then joined Mercedes just as the one-time dominant outfit floundered, so 2026 was finally his time.

The last two races have been less successful, amid set-up issues, bad luck, and a few technical gremlins, and that has kicked open the door that a rising Antonelli has surged through. Russell isn’t going to have it all his own way this year.

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Verstappen is in a bind​

Max Verstappen has long been loathing of the 2026 ruleset, and he is delivering a barbed headline after nearly every session, in a poke-the-bear “Say the line, Bart!” kind of way. Could he walk away after this year? He says it’s on his mind.

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Hamilton is, largely, much happier​

Lewis Hamilton cut a downbeat figure for much of 2025, and it was an unpleasant sight—F1’s GOAT all at sea, questioning himself, and questioning a lot of things.

It’s early days in 2026, and Japan wasn’t the finest performance, but Hamilton is all-round in a better place—of course, aided by Ferrari making steps too. It’s great to see the 41-year-old, in the twilight of his career, back nearer the sharp end of the field.

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Hadjar looks closer to Verstappen​

Isack Hadjar looks closer to any teammate of Max Verstappen’s in some time, with his credentials underlined by an excellent third in qualifying in Melbourne. The caveat is Red Bull is now in the midfield, limiting performance, and Hadjar is partnering a clearly disillusioned Verstappen.

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Red Bull has built its worst car in a decade​

That the first Red Bull power unit has barely been mentioned is excellent news for everyone at Red Bull Powertrains-Ford. It’s in the mix, which for a starting effort, is brilliant.

But Red Bull’s chassis is nowhere. Both Verstappen and Hadjar have struggled with the balance, and the car looks wayward and nervous, with no clear path towards a remedy. Mixing it with Racing Bulls at this stage says a lot.

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Aston Martin is in a mess​

There could be 26 different takeaways from Aston Martin-Honda’s season so far alone. It is last in the championship, seconds off the pace, the quality of the chassis is pretty unknown, because its being shaken by an underpowered and unreliable engine.

Somehow this is worse than the McLaren-Honda fiasco of the mid-2010s. They scored points after six grands prix. When will Aston get near that?

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McLaren’s third-best but improving​

McLaren’s paltry return of 46 points owes much to its trio of non-starts, two of which were down to separate electrical issues in China. Its non-works status has initially put it on the back foot, but it is learning quickly, and while it still believes its chassis is third-best, with prior graining issues masked in Japan, Oscar Piastri’s display was hugely encouraging.

A large upgrade package is planned for Miami, where two years ago its prospects were transformed by a similar approach. It shouldn’t be long before they’re winning races again.

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Norris has been luckless​

The world champ has yet to have a clean weekend. Myriad issues cost him critical practice time in Australia and Japan, leaving him on the back foot for the business end of the weekend, and he didn’t even make the start in China. It’s been a forgettable start to his title defense, but very little of that has been his fault.

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Starts are a big challenge​

The removal of the MGU-H has made starts harder for drivers, with turbo lag reintroduced, so the FIA implemented a slightly tweaked start procedure. But there have still been huge variances up and down the grid, sometimes dependent on the make of the power unit, and other times just minor glitches from drivers that have had big consequences. It’ll smooth out as time goes on, but for now it’s still a challenge.

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High speed corners have been neutered​

The energy management, and super clipping, means most of the high-speed curves have been neutered, as it’s better to conserve there and deploy on the straights. Which is a massive shame.

The low/medium stuff is more exciting than before, with drivers more on edge, compared to how cumbersome and lethargic the ground-effect-era machines looked. But at high speed? The drivers aren’t being tested at all. “Everything is a medium speed corner now,” said Alex Albon in Japan.

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Is the racing any good?​

There have been passes for the lead at each grands prix, multiple battles up and down the field, and positions changing hands readily. But… is it actually any good? Drivers are having to think differently, and strategically differently, but sometimes passes are simply happening by accident due to harvesting and battery management and so on.

There has been good racing—the Ferrari battle in China the best example—so perhaps there needs to be more time, and for matters to shake out, for a proper conclusion here.

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Qualifying is worse​

Going slow is the new fast. The complicated algorithms of the power units means drivers are having to approach qualifying counterintuitively, meaning that driving just under the limit is more conducive to a faster lap time, as it can be better to recharge through fast corners. Which is rubbish, frankly.

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The speed differentials need addressing​

Ollie Bearman’s accident in avoiding a slowing Franco Colapinto was the type feared by drivers under the 2026 rules. Sure, it could have been avoided, but it happened.

Bearman was somewhat fortunate that the 50 g shunt left him with just a bruised knee, but it highlighted the danger of the closing speeds—particularly closing speeds happening in places of the circuit that are counterintuitive to drivers.

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Lindblad looks at home already​

Arvid Lindblad is this year’s only rookie, aged 18, but from the outset in Melbourne he looked comfortable. Squabbling with champs on debut and scoring points was a huge result. China and Japan were trickier—though making Q3 at Suzuka was excellent—but lost track time in practice proved costly.

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And Lawson is also excelling​

Liam Lawson has scored points three times from four attempts in 2026, and it could have been a complete set but for a horror getaway in Australia. There’s a long road ahead, but it’s a strong start for a driver who still hasn’t had a whole season at the same team.

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Gasly is having a superb season​

Pierre Gasly spent most of 2025 lumbered with a terrible car. Alpine has had an uptick in performance in 2026, and Gasly is having fun again. One of only five drivers to score in every race, and back as the king of the midfield. Franco Colapinto needs to up his game.

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Audi’s fine, but vague on reliability, with awful starts​

For a first crack at a power unit, Audi is having a solid time, albeit it has been very vague on reliability reasons, which has cost it two starts. It only has a couple of points, but the overall performance has been encouraging, and its primary setback has been its race starts.

Bortoleto lost one spot on the first lap in Australia, and four in Japan, while Hulkenberg slipped back four places in China, and six in Japan. “Improving our race starts is something we need to focus on as a team over the upcoming weeks,” said Hulkenberg.

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Wheatley’s exit was a surprise​

It only took two races for a team boss to leave, but Jonathan Wheatley’s exit from Audi came as a surprise to fellow management officials and the drivers. It’s a short-term setback for Audi.

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Track time is more vital now—and there’s not much for a while​

Maximizing track time under new regs is always important, but particularly this year, as drivers and teams learn and understand deployment and management at each circuit. There’s also the matter of data-gathering for development purposes—and the next few events offer scant opportunity. Miami and Canada are Sprints, Monaco is Monaco, so the next ‘normal’ weekend where teams can truly trial new parts at a regular venue is Barcelona, in mid-June.

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Williams is the biggest letdown​

Williams was a feel-good story in 2025, but 2026 has been dreadful. It always cautioned its ambitions were long-term, but 2026 was a golden chance that is ebbing by the wayside.

The car is overweight, which means there’s low-hanging fruit to find, but there are flaws elsewhere. The Japanese GP simply turned into an extended test session for Alex Albon. Boss James Vowles called Carlos Sainz’s drive faultless, but it was sufficient for only 16th. Ouch.

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The war impact remains… to be continued​

F1 is already down two grands prix in 2026 due to the impact of the Middle East conflict. There are far greater concerns and implications than to motor-racing, but in considering the impact on F1 there remain long-term unknowns. Logistics are one, oil prices another, while there’s the matter of the final two grands prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. There could be muddy waters ahead still.

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Bearman’s had an eventful start​

Ollie Bearman finished 2025 strong, and he has continued that form into 2026, with excellent drives in Australia and China—even if Japan ended badly with a big shunt after a poor qualifying session that was hindered by a switch issue. Being “best of the rest” in the Drivers’ Championship is no mean feat.

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Haas has shone too​

Haas is F1’s smallest outfit and kept pushing with the development of its 2025 car, so it has performed admirably to hit the ground running in 2026. It has scored points in every race, is operationally smoother, and holds fourth in the standings. Granted, it is very close between fourth and seventh, but Haas can be buoyed by how it has started the new era.

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Cadillac is doing just fine​

Cadillac is exactly where it should be. It has hit its marks, showed up, looked professional, and been within respectable distance of the midfield—and ahead of the wounded Aston Martin.

Veterans Checo Perez and Valtteri Bottas have ably led the team (any head-to-head comparisons are fruitless and meaningless at this stage), and have settled back into F1 well. Cadillac got one car to the finish in Australia, two in China, then two again in Japan—with one on the lead lap. So every event has brought progress. It still has exponential gains to find, given the intricacies of 2026-spec F1, so the task now is to join the pack.

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Herta already learning lessons​

Okay, so this is F2, but there’s a clear F1 link. Colton Herta gave himself a C-minus for his F2 debut in Australia, after crashing in practice and enduring a tricky qualifying session. A recovery to seventh was so-so, but Herta knows he has to start future weekends on a stronger footing to be in contention for the big points.

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