2026 season

PRE SEASON Andretti finally joined Formula One after trying for 5 years with Cadillac engines. Honda also joined Formula One, buying out Alpha Tauri and supplying engines to McLaren, and also not forgetting the highly anticipated entry of Audi. Their drivers were Esteban Ocon and Colton Herta. This was going to be Lewis Hamilton's last season. Max Verstappen was the current champion, looking to continue his dominance for 5 years straight in the new regulations.

OPENING RACES Lando Norris took a suprise win in Bahrain, and Audi took a podium on their first race. Verstappen was comfortably leading the race until his engine stopped running on 6 cylinders, forcing him to salvage 4th. Norris used his Aston Martin's straight line speed advantage and won in Azerbaijan as well. Leclerc took Audi's first win in Spain, as Norris' consistent points finishes allowed him to retain the lead in the championship in a slow car compared to Audi, Mercedes and Red Bull Ford. Verstappen looked like the fastest driver but had multiple reliability issues. Meanwhile, further back, Ferrari struggled and Andretti Cadillac scored their first points and looked to be contenders for 6th.

MID SEASON RACES Verstappen won in Red Bull's home race of Austria, then Lewis Hamilton won his home race in Britain, taking the championship lead after Norris retired. Ocon finished in 4th for Andretti, showing that the team were very serious, and could be challenging for titles in the coming years. Despite being the two fastest drivers of the season, reliability issues for Verstsappen and Leclerc meant that the two Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton were leading the championship. In this close season, consistency seemed to be the key. A win for Norris at another track favouring straight line speed, Monza, got him within striking range of Lewis Hamilton, but a bad result in Belgium and a DNF for Hamilton meant that Leclerc's win in the following race, the Singapore GP, meant he led the championship. Behind the front runners, Andretti were continuing to get stronger, with 3 top five finishes they embarassed Ferrari, with Ocon being ahead of veteran Carlos Sainz in the standings. Honda had now also scored points, and a top 5 finish for Piastri saw him get ahead of the Alpine drivers.

CLOSING RACES Two wins in a row for Max Verstappen saw him take the championship lead for the first time in the season, as he seeked to win a 6th title, to only take him one behind Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. But his competitors were hot on his heels. Only 9 points seperated the top 4 with 2 races left. But it was George Russell who gave himself an unlikely chance of winning the championship by winning his second race of the year in Mexico, but Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were level on points, meaning a winner takes all finale down in Brazil. However, neither would win the championship after a contreversial collision took both title rivals out of the race, meaning it was up to Lando Norris and George Russell to dogfight it for the championship. After over 30 laps of wheel to wheel racing, it was Russell who emerged as the unlikely champion, despite Lando's best efforts in an off the pace Aston Martin. Charles Leclerc won the race, meaning he secured 3rd in the championship, a strong first year for Audi who finished 3rd in the constructors championship as well. Andretti were just pipped by Alpine for 6th in the constructors championship, but 7th was still impressive for the new team.