The 2026 season of Formula One ushered in some of the most drastic regulatory changes in the sport’s history. As teams and drivers still try to get around the new cars, the year’s first half has been a mixed bag for on-track action. Nonetheless, there has been enough to keep the fans interested. With the F1 carnival reconvening after the summer break in Zandvoort this weekend, The Hindu reviews the major themes so far to see what could lie ahead.

Energy-starved cars

The new rules, which brought hybrid power units closer to a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor, raised concerns at the outset that the cars would be energy-starved. When pre-season testing began, four-time champion Max Verstappen was scathing in his criticism. The battery’s limitations meant drivers had to ease off through fast corners to maximise electric power on straights, where time could be gained.

Add to it the complex algorithms governing how the battery deploys and harvests energy, and drivers were forced to adapt their driving styles to the car’s limitations. In the first few races, this led to cars being passed and then passing back as the battery pack emptied and recharged, resulting in ‘yo-yo racing’. The fans were none the wiser, as one couldn’t ascertain whether the moves were genuine. It took time for teams to adapt, and a rule tweak in Miami has also helped reduce some of the worst effects of ‘yo-yo racing’. Still, on energy-hungry tracks, the sight of F1 cars unwilling to be driven in anger around fast corners has dampened the spectacle.

Breakout star

One of the great joys of watching elite sport is to marvel at the ability of a wonderkid ruffling the feathers of the established order. Even as F1 has been besieged by negativity around the new regulations, the one bright light has been Kimi Antonelli. The Italian, who will graduate out of his teens on Tuesday (August 25), has taken the F1 world by storm in his sophomore campaign, winning six of the 11 races and leading the championship by 50 points.

The Mercedes driver has taken a clear step up from his error-strewn rookie year, stringing together five consecutive wins at one stage. His aggressive driving style, with sharp steering inputs, seems to work well with the current cars, and the youngster has made full use of the class-leading Mercedes to build a comfortable lead. Team boss Toto Wolff’s decision to throw him in the deep end last year appears a stroke of genius.

While Antonelli has a healthy lead, he has already experienced how fickle it can be. He was once 66 points ahead and saw that whittled down to 25 before he built it back up. With a possible 12 races left this year, it is too early to pop the champagne. However, if he keeps doing what he has been doing, keeping a calm head, he could etch his name into the history books.

Plight of the presumptive favourite

George Russell bided his time in an uncompetitive Williams for three years before earning a promotion to Mercedes in 2022 to partner Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately, it came at a time when the German marque, which had won eight successive titles, messed up the 2022 ground-effect regulations. He was saddled with a car that could at best fight for the occasional win. But in his three years alongside Hamilton, Russell showed he could go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest drivers in history. By the end of 2024, he was faster.

So when he won the first race in Australia from pole and then dominated the sprint in China, he would have felt that his patience was finally paying off. Yet, it has pretty much been downhill since then. A mixture of reliability issues, bad luck during races, and his driving style not suiting the current car has left the presumptive pre-season favourite 59 points off top spot.

We will soon know whether Russell has found a way during the summer break to address the pace deficit to his colleague. The title fight could still be between the Mercedes drivers; they have the best package. But the last few races have shown that Ferrari and McLaren are not far off. It is an extra set of variables that the 28-year-old could have done without.

Hamilton’s revival

Even as Russell has endured a torrid time, his former teammate has found a new lease of life after four years of struggle in ground-effect cars. Hamilton’s initiation into Ferrari was tumultuous, and there were times last year when one wondered if the seven-time champion was past his best. In fact, the Briton himself pondered if he was the right man for the job. However, the nimble 2026 cars seem to have rekindled his mojo and the 41-year-old is now second in the standings.

Testing period: Max Verstappen hasn’t been happy with Red Bull’s car this season, but he has extended his contract to 2030.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images

His hard work at the factory has helped him build a better relationship with the team, which was far from smooth last year. More importantly, the team has also given in to some of his demands, especially regarding the brakes, allowing him to use his preferred Carbone Industrie discs even though Ferrari has a long-standing relationship with rival Brembo. Hamilton’s better feel for the brakes has allowed him to exploit the car better, and the result was his first win for Ferrari in Barcelona.

While the title challenge is still a long shot, Hamilton will feel that if he can get good results in the next few rounds, the pursuit of that elusive eighth crown will start to become more real.

Max’s Red Bull situation

Verstappen and Red Bull have long maintained that the new-era cars aren’t fun to drive. They have also spoken extensively about the limitations of the power unit. While some called it fearmongering, given that Red Bull was building its own engines for the first time, reality has, to an extent, caught up with what they were warning about.

Although Red Bull has done a tremendous job on the powertrains, its electric component is not as strong as Mercedes’. Combine that with a lack of aerodynamic stability and a faulty rear wing, and it’s no surprise that Verstappen is far from happy with his team. This led to rumours that the Dutchman was trying to leave Red Bull or even walk away from the sport.

But, on the eve of this weekend’s Dutch GP, Verstappen extended his contract up to 2030, showing a commitment to the project under Laurent Mekies, who took over from Christian Horner last year. The Red Bull boss has done a good job of ensuring the team’s biggest asset stays. However, there is now added pressure on him and the engineers to repay Verstappen’s faith and provide him a car worthy of his generational talent.

Published – August 22, 2026 06:30 am IST

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates at the podium after winning the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, on June 14, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Lewis Hamilton said he felt “invigorated” and “full of life” following a move to Ferrari as his new car was unveiled in front of some 15,000 raucous fans during the 2025 Formula One season launch at London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday. Seven-times world champion Hamilton has left Mercedes after 12 seasons to join the Italian giants for the upcoming campaign that starts with next month’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Ferrari have been ever present throughout Formula One’s 75-year history and the prospect of winning a record eighth drivers’ championship with the ‘Scuderia’ has clearly proved enticing for 40-year-old British motorsport great Hamilton.

“The word I am thinking of is invigorated because I feel so full of life and so much energy because everything is new and I’m just focused on what is up ahead,” said Hamilton in a brief on-stage interview — Ferrari are holding a press conference at their Maranello headquarters on Wednesday.

“I’m so proud to be part of the team, something new and exciting for me,” he added following his first public appearance in Ferrari’s traditional red racing colours. 

His words echoed those of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who earlier Tuesday told reporters his old rival could be “reborn” at Ferrari where he will join Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton ended his more than two-year wait for a win with victory on home soil at the British Grand Prix in July.

Yet he still finished a mammoth 214 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings as his time at Mercedes — where he won six titles — came to a disappointing end. 

‘New motivation’

But Verstappen, bidding to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of five successive drivers’ championships, said joining Ferrari could be the change Hamilton needs.

“It will provide him with a different scenery, a new motivation,” said Verstappen. “And when you have been with a team for a long time, have won a lot and then had a few tough seasons, maybe your motivation is different. 

“Now it is almost like he is reborn.

“We all know how good Lewis is and we all know how good Charles is. Ferrari have two great drivers. It is going to be exciting for the sport, but it will also depend on how good the car is.”

Hamilton joins a Ferrari team narrowly pipped to the constructors’ championship by McLaren last year. 

“I am definitely anticipating Lewis being a championship contender,” said McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. “We and Ferrari ended last year with nothing between us and I think that will continue.”

Hamilton will have his first serious drive of his new car during next week’s lone winter testing session in Bahrain, with Ferrari aiming for their first championship in nearly two decades.

“If Lewis gets off to a good start and he gets the team around him, he will find his confidence and he could be a real contender for this world championship,” said Christian Horner, the principal of Verstappen’s Red Bull team.

Horner added: “But if he doesn’t get off to a good start, it will inevitably be harder for him.”

Tuesday’s glitzy event saw all 10 Grand Prix teams launch their new cars at the same venue, the first time this has happened in Formula One history. 

“It’s difficult to get most teams to agree what day of the week it is,” said Horner. “So, to get all 10 teams here launching their cars tonight, it’s been a big effort.”

“It’s a show very much for the fans,” he added, with the launch presented by British comedian Jack Whitehall and also featuring US rapper Machine Gun Kelly before finishing with a performance by 1990s UK pop band Take That.

Lewis Hamilton drove a Ferrari Formula One car for the first time on Wednesday after the seven-time world champion took to the track at the team’s test circuit and admitted it was “one of the best feelings” of his life. The 40-year-old Briton shocked the paddock last February when he announced, after 12 highly successful years with Mercedes, he was departing for the iconic Italian team. On a foggy morning at the Fiorano test track near Ferrari’s Maranello base in northern Italy, Hamilton shot out in a test car wearing the classic red overalls and a distinctive yellow helmet.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had,” said Hamilton.

“But driving a Ferrari car for the first time this morning was one of the best feelings of my life.”

Groups of Ferrari’s passionate fans, described as “awe-inspiring” by Hamilton, watched on in the wet weather from a bridge overlooking the track as Hamilton zipped round.

Fans are hoping Hamilton can end an 18-year wait for a drivers’ F1 title which has been dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull.

Hamilton won just two Grands Prix — his British GP victory in July ending a two-and-a-half year winless streak — and finished seventh in the 2024 world championship, a mammoth 214 points behind title-winner Max Verstappen.

“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” added Hamilton.

“It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula One car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.”

Hamilton is due to unveil his 2025 car at Ferrari’s season launch alongside team-mate Charles Leclerc on February 19 at Maranello, with testing in Bahrain the following week.

Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari.© X/ScuderiaFerrari

Max Verstappen will look for an improved personal and team performance this weekend when Red Bull seek to stop the rot and stay on top in the Formula One title race at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After a run of six races without a win that has coincided with the revival of his rivals, the Dutchman arrives in Baku with a 62-point lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Lando Norris. His team’s advantage ahead of McLaren has also been trimmed to only eight points.

Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s last victory, his 61st, came at the Spanish Grand Prix in June while team-mate Sergio Perez last won on the streets of Baku, claiming his sixth career triumph and second in Azerbaijan in last year’s race.

Red Bull’s supreme domination that has seen them leading the constructors’ championship for more than two years, since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, will end if McLaren outscore them by nine points on Sunday.

In the aftermath of Aston Martin’s glossy unveiling of Red Bull’s star designer Adrian Newey as future managing technical partner on Tuesday, another defeat to knock them off the top could be seen as significant.

Both Verstappen and Mexican Perez have been busy working on finding solutions to their slump in form since Charles Leclerc claimed victory for Ferrari at Monza on September 1.

“Monza was a tough race for us and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be,” said Verstappen.

“We always want to be more competitive and the team has been working hard on the issues we’ve had.”

“We’ve had a good period of reflection and work since the last race,” said Perez. “Both Max and I have been in the factory working to ensure we are finding a fix for the problems.

“To get back to where we should be on the grid, it will take a team effort and you can see that every day in Milton Keynes. This has pulled us all together.”

Perez leaning on Baku memories

Perez finished eighth at Monza, two places behind three-time world champion Verstappen, while both Ferraris, both McLarens and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton filled the top five.

After a season of much speculation about his future at Red Bull following a string of poor results, he welcomes the return to a venue he likes.

He is the only two-time winner in Baku and has scored more points there than any other driver.

“Personally, I love to race there,” he said. “Street circuits suit my style and Baku is a fun track.”

Ferrari will also be filled with hope in Baku after their success with an upgraded car at Monza where revisions to the floor and other areas proved successful.

But team chief Fred Vasseur stressed that the team will be focused on consistency and not checking the championship standings this weekend as they chase down Red Bull and McLaren.

“We have to focus on doing a good job every weekend and if something has to come to us, it will come. It’s no good to focus on the championship and be conservative… everything can change so much from one week to the next.”

With McLaren and Mercedes both claiming wins in recent races, a close scrap on the fast and challenging street track is in prospect, with Ferrari’s reserve driver Oliver Bearman replacing Kevin Magnussen alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Haas.

Dane Magnussen has been banned after accumulating 12 penalty points.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was a Mercedes junior driver.© X (Twitter)

Carlos Sainz announced Monday that he had signed a two-year deal to race for Williams starting from the 2025 season amid what he said was an “exceptionally complex” market for Formula One drivers. The 29-year-old Spaniard will leave Ferrari at the end of the 2024 campaign after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was announced as his replacement at the Italian giants earlier this year. Sainz has won three F1 races so far in his career, the most recent at the Australian Grand Prix in March.

Having previously driven for Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren, Sainz had been linked with several teams for the 2025 season including Alpine, Sauber and Mercedes.

But on Monday it was confirmed he had agreed an initial two-year deal at Williams, with an option to extend.

“I am very happy to announce that I will be joining Williams Racing from 2025 onwards,” Sainz said in a team statement.

“It is no secret that this year’s driver market has been exceptionally complex for various reasons and that it has taken me some time to announce my decision.”

He added: “However, I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport.

“The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity.”

Sainz will replace Logan Sargeant at Williams, where he will partner Alex Albon.

Founded in 1977 by the late Frank Williams, the team have won nine F1 Constructors’ Championships and seven drivers’ titles, with Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve all crowned world champion while at Williams.

But Williams have struggled in recent seasons and last took a podium finish in 2021, while their last race victory came via Pastor Maldonado’s shock win back at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.

“Carlos joining Williams is a strong statement of intent from both parties,” said Williams team principal James Vowles.

“Carlos has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, with race-winning pedigree, and this underlines the upwards trajectory we are on.”

Max Verstappen, facing a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a qualifying session run in mixed wet-and-dry conditions at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. Leclerc will start Sunday’s race from pole position as he did in 2023 with Sergio Perez alongside him in the second Red Bull, the Mexican having ended a nightmare run of qualifying failures amid reports that his future with the team is at risk.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Mercedes and will share the second row of the grid with McLaren’s Lando Norris, who qualified fifth ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the second Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz was eighth in the second Ferrari in front of compatriot and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Alex Albon of Williams — who will be 10th on the grid ahead of Verstappen.

“It was a nice qualifying and luckily the weather was ok,” said Verstappen, referring to earlier heavy rain that turned final practice into a washout. “It was raining a little bit, but we could do a decent session.

“I know I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today and we’ll go from there. I don’t know quick we are going to be, but I hope we can be in the mix.”

Verstappen will be bidding to win the Belgian race for the fourth consecutive year, having won previously after taking grid penalties, but his car this year lacks the same clear superiority. Last year, he won from sixth. This year he starts 11th.

“It’s exactly the same as last year and, for me, it’s good as I didn’t expect that. We had tricky conditions and the rain helped us a bit and it’s good to be back at the front of the grid,” said Leclerc.

In steady but light rain, Norris led a train of cars from the pitlane for Q1, followed by both Haas cars and his McLaren team-mate Piastri, who was forced to drop to fourth by an exit by Kevin Magnussen that he described as “dangerous”.

– Racing in the rain –

A heavy shower was forecast by McLaren and this accelerated all 20 drivers to join the fray in pursuit of an early banker lap before the conditions deteriorated. All were on intermediates as Norris clocked 1:58.894 before being beaten by Piastri, in 1:57.411.

Verstappen then took over on top in 1:56.003 with Piastri threatening and taking second before rising to take command with five minutes to go in 1:55.549, before the Dutchman regained the ascendancy.

He clocked 1:54.938 to go six-tenths clear of Piastri while Norris struggled to match him and Russell fought to survive, rising from 17th to third in the final seconds of Q1.

Taking advantage of a problem for Verstappen, who was involved in a blocking incident with Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber, Piastri took top spot again in 1:54.835 ahead of Pierre Gasly.

The early departures were taken by the two Haas men, Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who will start from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for new power unit parts, Logan Sargeant of Williams and Zhou.

Q2 began in similar fashion, with rain forecast and all 15 runners on track, Alex Albon setting the early pace for Williams before Norris took over in 1:54.459 and then Verstappen, in 1:53.857. All were on ‘inters’ again.

With five minutes to go, Russell and Leclerc, with fresh tyres, were both in the drop-zone as the rain intensified. Russell reacted by leaping to fourth followed by Leclerc, taking third, and Hamilton up fifth.

Late faster laps from Perez, Ocon and Gasly pushed the Mercedes pair to go second and third while the under-pressure Perez survived by 0.003 seconds. Albon, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Daniel Ricciardo of RB, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin team had rebuilt his car after his crash in FP3, missed the cut.

Hamilton was first out for Q3 and posted a lap in 1:54.011 as a marker.

On their first runs, only the two Red Bulls beat him, Verstappen going top in 1:53.159, leaving it all down to the final laps to decide the final grid order.

Max Verstappen was handed a public rebuke by his own engineer on Sunday when he blamed Red Bull’s strategy for finishing a frustrated fifth after surviving a collision with Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The drivers’ championship leader and three-time world champion crashed into Hamilton on lap 63 of the 70-lap race. Verstappen, 26, then remonstrated on team radio and was told not to “be childish” by his race engineer. The Dutch driver was summoned to the stewards office to explain his part in the accident, but no further action was taken by the officials.

Verstappen had ranted in a series of radio messages, many including profanities, about his car, strategy and the accident that most observers promptly said was his fault.

When Verstappen blamed Hamilton for the collision, by moving in his ‘braking zone’, his normally mild-mannered engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied in a firm tone.

“I am not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max,” he said.

“We’ll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio, childish.”

Verstappen defended his behaviour.

“I don’t know why people think that you can’t be vocal on a radio,” he said.

“This is a sport and if some people don’t like that — then stay home,” he added.

‘Racing incident’

This came after a series of notable incidents involving Verstappen, all of which suggested he and Red Bull are struggling with the pressure as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari close down their performance and points advantage.

Oscar Piastri won the race ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris with Hamilton finishing third, leaving Verstappen and Red Bull without a win in three races and with three wins in their last eight.

Verstappen, who was briefly airborne after crashing into Hamilton as he attempted to launch his car down the inside at Turn One, was in defiant mood.

“I went for a move that was fully on, but when I was in the middle of the braking zone and already committed, he keeps warping right,” he said.

“If I hadn’t turned while braking straight, I would have made contact with him.”

Told of Verstappen’s explanation after the race, Hamilton smiled.

“Ultimately, I think he was much quicker. I moved a little to defend and I left enough space on the inside and he locked up and then obviously couldn’t turn.

“So he came under a different trajectory and he clipped my wheel.

“I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to brake a lot later than me, but he sent it up the inside.

“I stayed still and he clipped the wheel and went over so I think a racing incident,” he added.

Verstappen’s advantage was trimmed to 76 by Norris.

His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished seventh after starting from 16th on the grid 24 hours after team boss Christian Horner had lambasted him for his fourth Q1 exit in seven qualifying sessions, adding “you can’t win a race on one leg”.