Three races in, and the 2026 Formula 1 season is already delivering drama on a scale nobody quite predicted. A teenage sensation is leading the championship. The sport's most dominant driver of the past four years is questioning his future. And the biggest regulation overhaul in a generation has turned the established order completely on its head.
If you haven't been paying attention, here's everything you need to know.
The New Rules That Changed Everything
This season marks the most sweeping set of regulation changes F1 has seen in years. The cars feature a radically revised power unit with a much greater focus on electrical energy recovery — tripling the emphasis on the hybrid element compared to previous seasons — alongside a new active aerodynamics system that allows the front and rear wings to adjust on the fly.
The result? A completely reshuffled grid, a fresh batch of engine manufacturers, and cars that have divided opinion in the paddock before they've even reached half a season.
Audi have arrived as a full works team for the first time, having purchased Sauber. Cadillac are making their F1 debut as an eleventh team using Ferrari power. Honda have left Red Bull and partnered exclusively with Aston Martin. Ford have returned to the sport for the first time since 2004, supporting Red Bull's in-house power unit project. It's a genuinely new landscape.
Meet Kimi Antonelli: F1's New Superstar
If there's one name to remember from this season, it's Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The 19-year-old Italian — driving for Mercedes alongside George Russell — has been sensational. He won on his third F1 start in China, making him the second-youngest grand prix winner in the sport's history. Two weeks later at Suzuka, he did it again, crossing the line over 13 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
At the time of writing, Antonelli leads the drivers' championship with 72 points — nine clear of his own team-mate Russell in second. The young Italian has shown composure and race-craft that belies his age, and Mercedes appear to have found themselves an extraordinarily gifted successor to Lewis Hamilton, who has of course now moved to Ferrari.
The Mercedes team as a whole are utterly dominant. With 135 points in the constructors' standings, they're 45 points clear of Ferrari in second. Their advantage isn't just down to talent — their W17 has simply mastered the new technical regulations better than anyone else, and with three customer teams also running Mercedes power (McLaren, Williams and Alpine), they have a notable advantage in terms of data sharing and development.
Ferrari and Hamilton: Promising, But Not Enough Yet
Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari continues to generate enormous interest, and so far the results have been solid if not spectacular. Hamilton sits fourth in the drivers' championship on 41 points, behind team-mate Leclerc in third on 49.
Ferrari have been competitive and entertaining to watch — the early races featured some brilliant lead swaps between the red cars and Mercedes — but they've been unable to sustain their pace over a full race distance. The SF-26 has genuine speed, and both drivers have shown flashes of their best, but Mercedes remain a step ahead for now.
McLaren: Reigning Champions Struggling to Defend
Lando Norris arrives as reigning world champion and one of the pre-season favourites, but McLaren have found the transition to the new regulations harder than expected. Norris sits fifth on 25 points, with team-mate Oscar Piastri sixth on 21 — both well adrift of the top two teams.
Piastri perhaps best illustrates McLaren's troubled start — he famously missed the opening two races of the season entirely after a qualifying crash in Australia, and has been playing catch-up ever since. Norris meanwhile has been blunt in his assessment of the new cars, calling them the worst F1 cars he's driven, a notable turnaround from last season's machinery which he praised as the best in the sport's history.
Red Bull and Verstappen: The Crisis at the Top
The most dramatic storyline of the season so far isn't the championship battle — it's the collapse of Red Bull and the very real possibility that Max Verstappen could walk away from Formula 1 entirely.
The four-time world champion is ninth in the standings on just 12 points, and the RB22 has been deeply uncompetitive. At Suzuka, Verstappen failed to reach Q3 for the first time since 2015, and spent the race stuck behind Pierre Gasly's Alpine — a car that has no business keeping a Verstappen at bay in normal circumstances.
The reasons behind Red Bull's difficulties are becoming clearer. The team focused heavily on developing the 2025 car late into last season rather than shifting resources to the new regulations, a decision that has cost them dearly. Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies has acknowledged the team sits "a distant fourth" in the pecking order and that there is significant work to do.
But the real question is whether Verstappen will still be there when they find their footing. After Japan, he told the BBC he was "beyond frustrated" and openly questioned whether continuing was worth it. He has a performance-related exit clause in his contract that could allow him to leave Red Bull at the summer break, and sources suggest he is leaning toward at least a sabbatical. The sport faces the uncomfortable prospect of losing one of its biggest ever stars in his prime.
The Controversy Around the Cars
It's not just Verstappen who has reservations. The new regulations have prompted a wave of criticism from across the paddock. Alonso has compared the experience to a "battery world championship," while Leclerc — generally an advocate of the new rules — lost his composure in Japan, calling the qualifying format "a f***ing joke" due to the demands the electrical system places on the driver.
The sport's governing body, the FIA, has convened an emergency summit this week to discuss potential tweaks before the Miami Grand Prix on May 3rd. The outcome of those discussions could shape not only the rest of this season, but Verstappen's decision about his future.
What's Next
With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix cancelled due to the conflict in Iran — a sobering reminder that F1 operates in a geopolitical world — the next race is Miami on May 3rd, followed by Canada, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and then a string of European races including the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in July.
Silverstone in particular promises to be a special occasion, with Hamilton racing as a Ferrari driver on home soil for the first time. Meanwhile, the championship picture could look very different by the summer — either through Mercedes consolidating their advantage, or through regulation changes shaking things up once more.
One thing is certain: the 2026 season is shaping up to be one of the most compelling in years. Whether you're following Antonelli's rise, Hamilton's Ferrari adventure, or the slow-motion drama of Verstappen's frustration, there's something for every F1 fan.
