Drivers & Teams

The self-learning algorithms inside F1 2026 power units can behave unpredictably, surprising even world champions. Here's why Piastri says "the computers are doing stupid things."

Sami Pajari led every kilometer of Delfi Rally Estonia 2026 to claim his first WRC win, becoming the 83rd different driver to win a world rally championship round in history.

Kimi Antonelli took his sixth win of 2026 at Spa-Francorchamps. Leclerc finished second, Verstappen third - Russell was eliminated in a lap-one clash with Hamilton.

Kimi Antonelli called Carlos Sainz an "idiot" over team radio during Belgian GP practice at Spa. Sainz says Antonelli "threw his car at him" - and told the championship leader to calm down.

Sami Pajari swept all seven Friday stages at Rally Estonia 2026 and leads by 14.7 seconds. Solberg is second, Fourmaux 1.8 back - Saturday's fight starts now.

Max Verstappen has activated his exit clause for the third straight year, leaving Red Bull waiting while a transfer, a sabbatical, and early retirement all sit on the table.

Charles Leclerc took a dramatic 2026 British GP win - Ferrari's 250th F1 victory - after an Antonelli mechanical and a Verstappen crash reshuffled the order.

Fred Vasseur fired back at Toto Wolff after the Mercedes boss implied Ferrari's 2026 development pace raises cost cap questions. Here's what was said at Silverstone.

WRC Delfi Rally Estonia 2026 runs July 16-19 near Tartu - round 9 of the season, 53 entries, and the final year of this Rally1 generation. Evans vs. Ogier after the Acropolis.

Zak Brown confirmed it: if Norris or Piastri "slipped on a banana peel," Max Verstappen would be first on the call list. Why that single quote already shifts F1's power balance.

George Russell took the 2026 Austrian GP by 1.6 seconds over Max Verstappen for his second win of the season. Antonelli holds the championship lead by 40 points.

George Russell grabbed pole for the 2026 Austrian GP with a 1:06.113 lap, surviving yellow flags from Verstappen's crash to beat Leclerc by 0.236 seconds.

Red Bull brings a second upgrade package to Spielberg, and Verstappen admits the hardest step is still ahead. Here's why this weekend could shape his contract decision.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz enters the 82nd Rally Poland, set for July 24-26 on the asphalt roads of Silesia. The three-time winner returns to where his career began.

Hayden Paddon is back in Rally1 and wants a shot on gravel. Hyundai faces a roster dilemma - has the veteran Kiwi earned a full program run?

Lewis Hamilton claimed his 106th career win at the Spanish Grand Prix, his first for Ferrari. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli retired with a broken rear wing on lap 61.

Robert Kubica finished Le Mans for the sixth straight time, recovering 10 positions, but one safety car call early in the race defined everything that followed. Inter Europol won LMP2 again.

Robert Kubica heads back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the No. 83 Ferrari 499P as defending winner - and says he feels better prepared than before his first triumph.

Gazoo Racing confirms a mid-engine sports car with a new G20E 2.0L turbo aiming past 400 HP and up to 600 HP in race form. Production no sooner than 2030.

Heading into 2027, the F1 driver market spins around one name. Until Max Verstappen talks, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari are stuck planning with an asterisk.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli won a chaotic Monaco GP where Verstappen stalled on the grid, Leclerc crashed twice, and Mercedes botched George Russell's penalty.

Saturday in Monaco delivered a shock pole for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, trouble for George Russell and disappointment for Charles Leclerc. Here is what it means.

George Russell outqualified teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0.068 seconds to take Sprint pole at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix. Mercedes locked out the front row at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with Lando Norris third for McLaren and Oscar Piastri fourth. The Sprint race runs Saturday over 100 km; the Canadian Grand Prix follows on Sunday.

Ford boss Mark Rushbrook confirmed Le Mans talks with Verstappen at Spa 2026 but ruled out the 2027 Hypercar debut. What is the realistic path?

F1 2026 brought a 50/50 hybrid split, but drivers call it 'Formula E on steroids'. Viewership fell 43% in France while CEO Domenicali insists there is no problem.

Miami GP 2026 — Antonelli wins his third in a row, beats Norris on the undercut. Now leads Russell by 20 points. Next up: Montreal's first-ever Sprint weekend.

Albon's track limits breach at Miami SQ1 2026 wasn't caught until SQ2 was already running — Lawson lost the session before the FIA acted. The 2026 officiating reforms don't close this detection-and-timing gap.

McLaren arrives in Miami 89 points behind Mercedes with a completely new MCL40 aero package — the first of two major rebuilds Stella planned for Miami and Canada. After two DNSs and one podium from three races, the upgrades have to land.

Kimi Antonelli, 19, leads the F1 championship heading into Miami — the youngest points leader in the sport's history. He arrives nine points clear of Russell after back-to-back wins in China and Japan, with new FIA rules on tyre management in play.

Three races into 2026, George Russell finally has a Mercedes that can win - and a teammate who refuses to let him have it easy. He won Australia by nearly a second, watched Antonelli take China and Japan, and woke up to Verstappen-to-Mercedes rumors filling the paddock. The season everyone called his coronation just got a lot more complicated.

The 2026 Aston Martin and Honda partnership had the entire paddock watching, but the team has been fighting severe engine issues instead of wins. While the new Adrian Newey-influenced chassis looks promising, early power unit vibrations and reliability problems have turned front-running ambitions into a battle just to finish races.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed his first Formula 1 victory at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, leading home a Mercedes one-two as George Russell finished second. Ferrari took a step forward with Hamilton third, while McLaren lost both cars to electrical failures and Red Bull continued to struggle with the new regulations.

George Russell led every lap and Kimi Antonelli crossed the line second. Mercedes won the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in a dominant 1-2 before Ferrari or anyone else could respond. The opening race of F1's new era had its benchmark team - and several others with immediate questions to answer.

Cadillac joins F1 in 2026 as the 11th constructor, expanding the grid to 22 cars for the first time since 2016. The American factory team runs a Ferrari customer engine in its first season while developing its own power unit long-term.

Audi enters F1 in 2026 as the full factory successor to Sauber, building its own hybrid power unit in Neuburg, Germany. The team targets steady progress through the 2026 regulatory reset before competing for championships by 2030.

Audi officially enters Formula 1 in 2026 as a full factory team, racing as the Revolut Audi F1 Team. Using the acquired Sauber Group as its race base in Hinwil, the squad will be powered by a new engine built in Neuburg, Germany - the first fully German-built F1 powertrain in more than a decade.

Renault's Formula 1 entry didn't disappear - it rebranded as Alpine F1 Team ahead of 2021. The Enstone factory kept building the cars and Renault's Viry-Chatillon unit kept building the engines; only the badge changed. Group CEO Luca De Meo drove the decision, using F1 to put the Alpine road-car brand in front of a global audience.

McLaren uses Mercedes-AMG power units in Formula 1. The Woking team has run Mercedes engines since 2021, with that partnership extended through 2030 to cover both the current and incoming 2026 power unit regulations.

Becoming an F1 driver means reaching the absolute peak of motorsport. With only 20 seats on the grid, it demands exceptional talent, years working through junior series, serious financial backing, and no small amount of fortune.

F1 drivers sit at the top of the professional sports pay scale. Verstappen earns £52 million base from Red Bull; Hamilton collects £48 million at Ferrari; and total packages for the top earners - including bonuses and personal endorsements - routinely clear £80 million a year. The gap between grid leaders and the 2025 rookies runs to 60:1 or more.