We’re only two weeks into the new year, but F1 teams’ preparations for the 2026 season are set to begin on Thursday night when the Red Bull team unveils its latest livery in Detroit and kicks off its engine partnership with Ford.
With the pre-season starting at an unusually early pace after the shortest winter, an even more extensive car and livery announcement schedule will continue from next week…
Why does release season start so early?
F1 starts in January?!
If you’re wondering why teams are publicly preparing for the new season just over five weeks after last season ended in Abu Dhabi on December 7, there’s one simple explanation: the arrival of the biggest technical rule change in the history of the sport.
A major overhaul of the chassis and engine for 2026 means that three pre-season tests will replace the tests of recent years, with the first test taking place on January 26 at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, marking the earliest start of pre-season practice since 2014.
All 11 teams are holding livery/car/season reveal events before and after the race in Spain, and ahead of the second test of the year in Bahrain starting February 11th.
When can we see the new car?
The new cars themselves are always the ultimate stars of the show during launch season, and expectations are heightened by the fact that this year we’ll see teams’ first interpretations of all-new technical rules.
Since the 2026 regulatory framework was first announced in June 2024, we have so far only seen mock-ups from the FIA and F1 showing what the narrower, more agile challengers will look like, so it will be interesting to see how the regulations translate into reality across the expanded 11-team grid.
The launch season won’t showcase everything the teams have been working on in preparation for the race in Australia from March 8th.
We already know that we won’t see the new Red Bull or the new Racing Bulls challenger at the launch event with Ford in Detroit, only their respective 2026 liveries (on the show cars). But next week should give us our first glimpse of what the team has come up with.
Haas (February 19th) and Mercedes (January 22nd) have promised to release the first photos of their respective challengers through online reveals, while Ferrari and Alpine (both January 23rd) may well do the same at their events.
By publishing photos online, teams can control what they show to the world, as well as the eyes of their rivals, and in what light and from what angle the car is photographed. Audi has already driven the new car on track during a shakedown in Barcelona, but the photos released reveal little.
After such a major overhaul so early in the year, there is little point in revealing too much more than a basic version of how the new ruleset was approached before the cars hit the track in group testing.
In any case, these cars are guaranteed to be fairly heavily developed, from basic launch spec to what teams will drive in the final test in Bahrain from February 18-20, ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in the first week of March.
What will the coloring be in 2026?
However, teams won’t be too shy about showing off their latest car color designs, starting with the Red Bull team at the Ford Racing event, which marks the beginning of a new era in engine partnerships.
And while it’s highly unlikely that certain established teams in particular will change their basic familiar colors, it’s guaranteed that at least two new looks will be revealed throughout the field.
Audi has finally completed the rebranding of its Sauber team, with the striking green and black livery the Swiss team has run for the past two seasons set to be replaced with something closer to the red-black titanium concept design the German manufacturer teased in November.
Audi’s F1 concept coloring announced at the end of last year
Cadillac’s addition as the sport’s new 11th team ensures a brand new look for the American grid, which will debut its livery for the first time in a Super Bowl halftime ad on February 8th.
What will teams and drivers say?
Launch season is also the first opportunity of the year for media and fans to hear from the drivers and team principals on the grid. The early soundbites delivered this preseason will be especially fascinating given the nature of the rule changes this winter.
Who will express confidence early on in an all-new car and engine package?
Who is the team’s most feared rival?
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F1 president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali speaks with Craig Slater to reflect on the remarkable 2025 season, Lando Norris’ future, Ferrari’s road to recovery and the sport’s next direction.
And does anyone expect them to be quick to admit that preparations aren’t going as planned and start the campaign from behind? After all, it was during the 2023 pre-season that McLaren team principal Andrea Stella publicly downplayed his chances in the early months of the season, an assessment that proved to be entirely accurate, with a surprising mid-year upgrade propelling the team onto the grid.
Given the scale of rulebook changes from one season to the next, preseason events and media interviews are also likely to spark debate over early technical disputes over teams’ interpretation of the regulations. In fact, discussions are already taking place in the media over the engine compression rules amid the revision of the power unit rules.
Where will the launch take place?
This year’s launch will feature the usual mix of online and physical events, both in Europe and further afield.
While the Red Bull team will open the season in the US, the new Audi team will head to its home base in Germany in five days, before unveiling its final 2026 look in Berlin.
Aston Martin’s new supplier Honda will hold its own power unit launch event in Tokyo, Japan on the same day.
Ferrari’s January 23rd event will likely stick to the traditional side, taking place from its home base in Maranello and the neighboring Fiorano test track, while Alpine and McLaren will unveil their 2026 looks in Barcelona and Bahrain ahead of their respective tests at those venues.
Why aren’t there any big O2 style events?
And just to be clear, the all-team joint launch event that F1 held at The O2 last February won’t be repeated anytime soon.
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Highlights of all 10 teams announcing their liveries at F1 75 LIVE.
To celebrate the start of the sport’s 75th anniversary celebrations, all 10 teams unveiled their latest liveries and driver line-ups in front of a sold-out London crowd at F1 75 Live, the sport’s first ever joint launch event.
But this time around, a major overhaul of the rules and three pre-season tests took a lot of time and focus, with teams once again holding their own events at times of their choosing.
Sky Sports F1 lets you watch all 24 race weekends of the 2026 F1 season live. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
