Every 2026 F1 team ranked as Lewis Hamilton gets Ferrari title boost | F1 | Sport

We’re only a few days away now from the start of the new Formula 1 season with the paddock already in the process of coming to life down in Melbourne. It’s not just any old new year – it’s a completely different era for the sport with changed engine and aerodynamic regulations which threaten to completely change the balance of power on the grid. And let’s not forget an 11th team for the first time in a decade, thanks to Cadillac‘s entry.

Pre-season testing has offered us a glimpse into what the season ahead might look like. But from endless engine management during races to slow launches off the line – and then Max Verstappen casually dropping into conversation that he might quit F1 soon – there’s still plenty left for us to figure out. At Express Sport towers, we’ve dusted off our crystal balls to predict what the end result will be in our 11-team preview below.

McLaren

Team principal: Andrea Stella
Drivers: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Last year: 1st
2026 prediction: 2nd

Lando Norris trailed his team-mate for most of the season but showed his nerve to take full advantage when Oscar Piastri’s form slipped, and Max Verstappen came roaring back into the fight. McLaren have probably the strongest driver line-up on the grid and, remarkably, one that proved last year that it won’t necessarily combust even if both are in a title fight.

Having Mercedes engines looks likely to be a huge boost this year, though they will have the added hurdle compared to the Merc works team of figuring out how to get the best performance from an externally supplied power unit. I’d be very surprised if they’re not in the fight, but Norris’ title defence and Piastri’s latest push for glory might just fall short.

Mercedes

Team principal: Toto Wolff
Drivers: Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell
Last year: 2nd
2026 prediction: 1st

The pre-season favourites for a reason. George Russell had a swagger about him in pre-season that no other driver was able to display. That, and the fact he and team principal Toto Wolff have been bigging up their rivals, mostly Red Bull, at every given opportunity speaks volumes.

Russell proved last year that he is quick and consistent enough to deliver if the car is there, while Kimi Antonelli should be able to find more stability with a full season in F1 under his belt. They were unspectacular on track in testing but the assumption is they were holding plenty back and, if that turns out to be true, the Silver Arrows may be unstoppable at the start of a new era – again.

Red Bull

Team principal: Laurent Mekies
Drivers: Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen
Last year: 3rd
2026 prediction: 4th

As mentioned, Russell and Wolff would have you believe that Red Bull are streets ahead of everyone else. That probably isn’t true, though I do think they too were sandbagging quite a bit in Bahrain. Their first crack at building an engine in-house seems to have gone well, given the evidence we’ve seen so far including some impressive pre-season reliability.

Surely no-one by now will doubt that Max Verstappen will squeeze every drop of performance out of the car, whether it’s dynamite or a dud. He has a new team-mate in Isack Hadjar, whose first job is to prove he can handle the job better than either Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda did last year. If they’re going to avoid being bottom of the big four, they’ll need the Frenchman to deliver.

Ferrari

Team principal: Frederic Vasseur
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
Last year: 4th
2026 prediction: 3rd

The signs are already looking much more positive for Lewis Hamilton, who is delighted to finally have a Ferrari car he can connect with. That will do him the world of good, though it remains to be seen whether it’s fast. Charles Leclerc put in the glory run on the final day of testing with a time nearly a second quicker than anyone else but, let’s be honest, it meant nothing.

They still have real issues, perhaps most notable Hamilton’s ongoing lack of a race engineer. But the seven-time champ seems more settled at Maranello now, while Leclerc shone last year even in a car incapable of winning a Grand Prix. Look out for their race starts – they were lightning off the line in testing.

Williams

Team principal: James Vowles
Drivers: Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
Last year: 5th
2026 prediction: 8th

It seems the midfield will be some way off the top four in the early rounds of the new season, but what we don’t know is what the competitive order is going to be. Things look so close that any one of five teams could finish fifth this year. Williams would expect to consolidate after two podiums on the way to a triple-figure points haul last term.

But they are on the back foot, having missed the Barcelona shakedown in January. Reliability seems good but the performance is lacking so far and both Albon and Sainz have warned that the car has “quite a few limitations” – one of them being that it’s overweight. Expect a slow start, but perhaps a quicker improvement rate than some others.

Racing Bulls

Team principal: Alan Permane
Drivers: Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad
Last year: 6th
2026 prediction: 7th

Only Mercedes completed more laps in the final week of Bahrain testing than Racing Bulls, with their Red Bull engine which looks good so far. Like Williams, and the next few teams to come, they could realistically be anywhere in the midfield by the end of the approaching campaign.

Pace-wise, they may well start the season among the quickest teams in that midfield group. They could be let down, though, by what is on paper a weaker driver pairing than most. Liam Lawson produced a handful of good results last year but needs to be much more consistent. Arvid Lindblad could be a future superstar but expectations should be managed for his debut F1 season given he has been fast-tracked through the system as an 18-year-old.

Aston Martin

Team principal: Adrian Newey
Drivers: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Last year: 7th
2026 prediction: 10th

Comfortably the biggest losers of pre-season testing, with their Honda engines so unreliable that they had to pack up early on the final day. And when they were running, they were so down on power that even newcomers Cadillac, who don’t expect to beat anyone in their first year, might fancy their chances of being quicker in Melbourne.

They have great foundations with their futuristic base, Adrian Newey at the drawing board and all of Honda’s resources on the engine side. But right now it’s a complete mess and, even if Newey’s aggressive design is quick, it will mean nothing if their engine is a dud. Unless they turn things around very quickly, it’ll be another painful year for Fernando Alonso.

Haas

Team principal: Ayao Komatsu
Drivers: Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon
Last year: 8th
2026 prediction: 5th

Perhaps the surprise package of testing, among the teams who put in the most laps in all three pre-season tests. Long run pace also steadily improved over the three tests and the car also looked pretty good on track in Bahrain, nicely balanced. F1’s second smallest team, behind only Cadillac, have every reason for optimism.

After showing immense progress across his first full season, Oliver Bearman looks ready to shine if the car is indeed good, especially as he chases the Ferrari promotion he has dreamed of since he was 16. Esteban Ocon will be hurting after being beaten by the rookie last year and, with team boss Ayao Komatsu’s public criticism still ringing in his ears. He’s a man with a point to prove this year.

Audi

Team principal: Jonathan Wheatley
Drivers: Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg
Last year: 9th (as Sauber)
2026 prediction: 9th

Audi had a fair few reliability problems in testing, with only Aston Martin and Williams – who missed part or all of the Barcelona shakedown – and Cadillac completing fewer pre-season laps. But as a new engine manufacturer, still very much in transition from the Sauber outfit which underachieved for years while using Ferrari power, ninth would be a reasonable first season for the German brand.

A strong driver duo helps, with Nico Hulkenberg a safe pair of hands and Gabriel Bortoleto a potential future star having impressed in his debut season. Audi have big ambitions for the future but would surely take a smooth-if-unspectacular year in 2026.

Alpine

Team principal: Flavio Briatore (acting)
Drivers: Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly
Last year: 10th
2026 prediction: 6th

Flavio Briatore has made some big promises for this year, having sacrificed pretty much the whole of 2025 to focus on this car. Things started well in testing and, armed with their shiny new Mercedes engines, they look a decent bet to start the season as the best of the midfield teams.

Pierre Gasly has signed on for the long-term and remains, to my eye at least, one of the more underrated drivers on the grid. But Alpine still have no solution for their other seat, with Franco Colapinto under immense pressure to deliver, having failed to score a point across 18 rounds after replacing Jack Doohan last year. The potential is there but they need both cars scoring regular points.

Cadillac

Team principal: Graeme Lowdon
Drivers: Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez
Last year: N/A
2026 prediction: 11th

Having built a new team entirely from scratch, Cadillac’s only expectation for their first season was to put two cars on the grid. They will achieve that in Melbourne next week and so everything from here is a bonus. And if they can cause a problem for one or two rivals then former Marussia boss Graeme Lowdon will love that.

Though vastly experienced, a driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, both 36 and back in F1 after a year off the grid, isn’t the most inspiring line-up. But they will at least have the nous to help them develop a car into something they can build on, with the hope of being a bit more competitive in 2027. Here to make up the numbers, for now…