2026 Pecking order predictions

[DJ Downforce]

I think it's time, as we start to close off the 2025 season, to make our early and very wrong pecking order predictions for next year!

We can then look back and see how wrong or right we were!

[DJ Downforce]

Mine:

Mercedes
Mclaren


Williams
Aston Martin
Red Bull

Alpine
Ferrari

Audi
VCARB
Cadillac

[organic]

McLaren (good chassis + engine)
Mercedes (good chassis + engine)

Ferrari (good chassis + decent engine)
Aston Martin (decent chassis + good engine)

Alpine (mediocre chassis + good engine)
Red bull (good chassis + bad engine)


Audi
Williams
Haas

Cadillac

[AR3-GP]

Mclaren
Mercedes
Max
Leclerc
Williams
Alpine
The rest.

[dren]

AM
Ferrari
Mclaren
Mercedes
RB
Williams

[Tonino]

Mercedes
Mclaren

Ferrari
Williams

Red Bull
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine

Audi
Racing Bulls
Cadillac

[Zhouvinazzi]

Aston Martin (I think Honda and Newey pairing is currently being underestimated)
McLaren
-
Mercedes
Ferari
Williams
-
Red Bull
Audi
-
Alpine
Cadillac
Haas
Racing Bulls

[selvam_e2002]

Mercedes and Mclaren will be good...they will take point on each other....
If AMR build decent car(with decent Honda engine) then Alonso will be there always with his Race craft. I think he will win in 2026.
next comes Ferrari and Alpine.
Then Hass, RB and Racing Bulls will fight for 17 and 18. last is Cadillac and Audi.

[f1isgood]

Red Bull
McLaren
Mercedes
Ferrari


Verstappen is sticking around. I believe there's more to it than what meets the eye.

Also who doesnt like a hot take?

[madridista]

1.) Mercedes (good aero, engine adv)

2,3) Aston Martin, Ferrari +0,1-0,3s (best aeros, Honda and Ferrari on par)

4) Mclaren +0,6s (mid aero, merc powered)
5) Redbull +0,7s (good aero, bad engine)


6.) Williams +1,5s
Haas
Audi

9.)Alpine
Vcarb

Cadillac

Gaps obviously purely guts and meant to broadly classify atp.
I predict Mclaren wont be there from the get-go and it will take them a while to catch up

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Mercedes and Mclaren will be good...they will take point on each other....
If AMR build decent car(with decent Honda engine) then Alonso will be there always with his Race craft. I think he will win in 2026.
next comes Ferrari and Alpine.
Then Hass, RB and Racing Bulls will fight for 17 and 18. last is Cadillac and Audi.

Here's an interesting statistic: From Alonso's first race to last win was 12 years, 2 months and 8 days. It is already 12 years, 5 months and 27 days since his last win. So if he wins a race again (and I sincerely hope he does, what a feel good story that would be) then the gap between wins, will be longer than his entire career up until his last win!!

That is just unprecedented!!

Edit to add, it would smash the record for time between wins, currently 6 years, 6 months and 28 days set by Patrese in 1990!!

[nitrotech]

FIA has already said, they will try to normalize the engine performance, to avoid 2014 like scenario. So I don't think the engine performance is going to be such a big deal. Reliability could be where races are won and lost.

1. Aston Martin. (Newey)
2. McLaren
3. Mercedes
4. Alpine (Mercedes engine)
5. Red Bull (questionable engine reliability)

[WardenOfTheNorth]

FIA has already said, they will try to normalize the engine performance, to avoid 2014 like scenario. So I don't think the engine performance is going to be such a big deal. Reliability could be where races are won and lost.

1. Aston Martin. (Newey)
2. McLaren
3. Mercedes
4. Alpine (Mercedes engine)
5. Red Bull (questionable engine reliability)

Depends on what they mean by equalise though. Drivability is different from power and the way they deploy the electrical energy will be a deciding factor in which PU is best.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Mercedes and Mclaren will be good...they will take point on each other....
If AMR build decent car(with decent Honda engine) then Alonso will be there always with his Race craft. I think he will win in 2026.
next comes Ferrari and Alpine.
Then Hass, RB and Racing Bulls will fight for 17 and 18. last is Cadillac and Audi.

Here's an interesting statistic: From Alonso's first race to last win was 12 years, 2 months and 8 days. It is already 12 years, 5 months and 27 days since his last win. So if he wins a race again (and I sincerely hope he does, what a feel good story that would be) then the gap between wins, will be longer than his entire career up until his last win!!

That is just unprecedented!!

Edit to add, it would smash the record for time between wins, currently 6 years, 6 months and 28 days set by Patrese in 1990!!

Its not a feel good story for a race fixing cheater to win a race, he deserves nothing.

Merc will probably/hopefully be on top, simulation and energy deployment strategy being of highest importance in this new formula.

Aston could be strong if Honda show up strong immediately, Newey's magic isn't always an immediate game changer. Hope they aren't strong because they have 2 of the least deserving drivers on the grid.

RBT powertrain is a big bag of question marks.

Grumbling coming out of Ferrari engine dept doesn't bode well.

[Henk_v]

The only way we could ever compare is if there were people who had reliable data from different teams. Do those people exist? Are there governing bodies who have those kind of overviews? Suppliers?

I think the entire assumption RB is bad is based on extrapolations ans Horners' vocal calls to change.

For me, the latter might just as well be evidence they knew their strong points early and tried to capitalise on it. How is asking for more ICE and less electrical power a sign of a bad ICE? To me it sounds like confidence you have developed something cool on the ICE side that will be hard to copy.