My team is better than yours! Your favorite driver is chopped and will never win the big one!
Sports discourse can be toxic. Apparently you’re no longer allowed to simply enjoy a race; you must declare allegiance, pick a side, and defend it to the death.
Formula 1 is full of colorful teams and drivers worthy of your support in 2026, though, so here’s one reason to root for every single one of them this year.
McLaren
Zak Brown has rebuilt McLaren in his own image: bold, ambitious and with a love of close, fair racing. The reigning constructors’ champion has a clear identity, and in 2025 it proved it would stick to it. Love Papaya rules or loathe them, McLaren refused to blink, even when it risked costing the team everything. In a sport as cutthroat as F1, that conviction feels refreshingly bold.
Lando Norris: He’s Formula 1’s newest world champion, but is he treated like one? He has long been one of the sport’s most popular figures, yet even after lifting the title, some still question whether he carries the same aura as those who came before him.Get on board here if you enjoy watching a driver silence the haters — he’s been doing it his whole career.
Oscar Piastri: Piastri’s 2025 season unraveled in horrible fashion. For half of the year, he looked like an unstoppable force, but things fell apart after moving over for Norris at Monza. Fair or not, that dynamic shift left a lingering question of what might have been. Supporting Piastri now feels like backing a driver intent on settling unfinished business.
Red Bull
Once dismissed as “just an energy drinks company,” Red Bull has become one of Formula 1’s all-time powerhouses. Now it’s going further, building not just the car, but its own engine too. It’s the boldest gamble on the grid. Masterstroke or hubris? We’ll find out soon enough, but early signs are good. Win again like this and it might well have a claim to be F1’s greatest team ever.
Max Verstappen: Verstappen is creating magic in front our very eyes. His 2025 season was so astonishing, it reinforced the sense he can win in anything with four wheels and an engine. When his car isn’t perfect, he usually is as close to it as you can get, and it’s impossible to imagine a Formula 1 season when he isn’t a factor in some capacity. If you like watching greatness in real time, Verstappen is your man.
Isack Hadjar: French driver Hadjar is the latest to find himself in the sink-or-swim role of Verstappen’s teammate. If anyone can end the curse, it’s Hadjar: he was thrilling to watch as a rookie and carries with him a swagger of someone who truly believes he might be able to hang with F1’s greatest driver.
Ferrari
No one chooses Ferrari. It just entices you in. Even when it disappoints you, you come back every time. Is this the year the Scuderia changes the narrative?
Formula 1’s most mythologized team is living under the weight of a title drought that stretches back to 2008, but the signs are promising again. The car looks quick, the hype is growing, but with Ferrari the question is never pace, it’s whether it can finally stop tripping over itself. When that drought finally ends, the release will be seismic — you’ll want to say you were there.
Charles Leclerc: If Ferrari is an opera, Leclerc is its long-suffering lead. Dubbed “Il Predestinato” (“The Predestined One”), he was recruited by Ferrari as a teenager and has absorbed heartbreak after heartbreak since 2019, often through no fault of his own. The speed has never been in doubt. The temperament has matured. All that’s missing has been the car. If he’s the one who finally ends Ferrari’s drought, it will be one of the most special title wins the sport has ever seen.
Lewis Hamilton: Hamilton’s dream move to Ferrari underwhelmed in 2025, but the new regulations offer a real chance at a reset and a revival for the sport’s most successful driver. Depending on your allegiance, he was either denied or robbed of an eighth title in 2021. To finally claim that record-breaking crown while also finally bringing a trophy back to Maranello after all this time would cement his place as the undisputed GOAT.
Mercedes
For nearly a decade, Mercedes set the standard in Formula 1. Toto Wolff built a team obsessed with winning, but the ground-effect cars of 2022-2025 unceremoniously knocked it off its perch. The new rules present a golden chance to prove that greatness wasn’t tied to one single era, but was was embedded into the very the culture of the team.
George Russell: Russell’s F1 career has been defined by cruel timing. He arrived at Mercedes just as its eight-year title reign ended, meaning machinery never matched his expectation of the move. Russell is nearly the complete package — the talent, the composure, the race craft and the edge are all there. Now, finally, the car appears to up to task. As preseason favorite, this is his chance to finally get his payoff and prove good things truly do come to those who wait.
Kimi Antonelli: You can teach control, but not raw speed. Antonelli has the latter in spades. The Italian teen races with the ferocity of a young Verstappen, thrilling and maddening in equal measure. Now armed with stronger machinery, if he sharpens his raw edges and irons out his consistency, Formula 1 might just be witnessing the emergence of its next generational force.
Williams
A delayed start to preseason leaves Williams entering 2026 with work to do, but writing off this wonderful outfit has rarely ended well. Sir Frank Williams’ team built its reputation by repeatedly overcoming odds and punching above its weight. This new era begins on the back foot, but resilience is woven into the very fabric of the place — this team won’t go down without a fight.
Carlos Sainz: Seeing Sainz racing in the midfield feels wrong. Wherever he’s gone, he’s delivered, yet he’s found himself expendable through no fault of his own on numerous occasions. Two podiums for Williams last year were another reminder of his class. Now the task is different: not just scoring points, but dragging a proud team back toward the promised heights he joined to reach.
Alex Albon: You’ve got to feel for Albon. His 2025 season was better than Sainz’s in the points table, but the latter’s podiums stole all the thunder of Williams’ campaign. That is vintage Albon, isn’t it? Overlooked, even when he’s performing at his best. The incredibly likable Albon’s resilience, honesty and sheer graft have rebuilt his reputation the hard way. If you appreciate drivers who let their performances do the talking, he’s an easy driver to get behind.
Racing Bulls
While the senior Red Bull operation has grown into a polished championship machine, junior outfit Racing Bulls feels closer to the brand’s original spirit: bold, playful and unafraid to stand out. The fashion is sharp, the tone is lighter, yet the ambition is still serious. It is trying to be a competitive force, but also to be different. In a sport that can take itself very seriously, that energy is hard not to enjoy.
Liam Lawson: Lawson may be the most misunderstood driver on the grid. Laid back and dry witted, he was quickly branded arrogant in some quarters — a perception sharpened when he replaced fan favorites Daniel Ricciardo and then Sergio Pérez. Dropped by Red Bull just two races into last season, his F1 future looked bleak. The fact he’s still here is a testament to stubborn resilience — and a reminder that first impressions aren’t always fair.
Arvid Lindblad: Red Bull doesn’t promote youth cautiously — the team flings it into the deep end. Lindblad is the latest prodigy fast-tracked to the junior team, carrying both expectation and intrigue. There’s genuine mystery here after just one year of Formula 2, and that’s part of the appeal. Red Bull’s pipeline after the junior team might be flawed, but it rarely promotes bad drivers into Formula 1. If you enjoy spotting the next big thing before everyone else, this is your chance.
Aston Martin
Billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll didn’t buy Aston Martin to make up the numbers. He built it to win — Fernando Alonso, a new factory, superstar hires and, now, Adrian Newey at the drawing board. The early signs suggest 2026 (and maybe beyond) could be messy, but that’s what makes this project so fascinating. If Aston can somehow dig its way out of this hole, the original promise of this superteam is still there — the ingredients are all there for something extraordinary.
Fernando Alonso: If William Shakespeare wrote about Formula 1, Alonso would be his tragic hero. The sport’s ultimate “what if” tale, the Spanish driver should have at least five titles and 60-plus race wins to his name. His frustrating, agonizing wait for anything close to competitive machinery looks set to continue. Keep the faith, if you can. Should things ever click for Alonso, the payoff would feel seismic.
Lance Stroll: Rooting for Stroll remains a mildly rebellious act. The “billionaire’s son” narrative writes itself, but he has largely ignored that noise. There have always been flashes of brilliant pace, even if consistency hasn’t followed. Knowing how to judge Stroll is tough — few drivers have been asked to measure themselves against Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in succession. If you enjoy backing the most debated man on the grid, this is your pick.
Haas
The smallest team on the grid by headcount, Haas routinely punches above its weight. Perpetually outgunned on resources, it relies on opportunism and talent, never pretending to be something it’s not. There’s something refreshingly unpretentious about that. In a paddock of giants, backing the scrappy little disruptor still carries a certain charm.
Oliver Bearman: Essex lad Bearman looks to be on a rocket ship toward the top of Formula 1. One of the standout rookies of 2025, he already carries himself with composure beyond his years and the quiet assurance of someone destined for bigger stages — perhaps one day Ferrari, who has backed him from the start. His youthful edge suits Haas’ spirit, and if the midfield car delivers, 2026 could be another decisive step on a steep upward curve.
Esteban Ocon: Once spoken about as a future champion, Ocon’s Formula 1 path has rarely been straightforward. A race winner in 2021, he never got the breaks needed to reach the heights predicted for him. He had a tough first season at Haas, but the talent has always been there. The brief for year two is clear: get his form back and remind everyone why he once looked destined for the very top.
Audi
Automotive giant Audi waited 76 years to enter Formula 1. It arrives with far greater ambition than the Sauber team it took over, diving straight into a regulation reset by building its own engine — a bold move for a newcomer. Manufacturers of this scale rarely enter to linger in the midfield. If Audi’s gamble pays off, it will be a formidable force. Get in on the ground floor while you can.
Nico Hülkenberg: After 239 attempts, Hülkenberg finally got his elusive first podium last year with a fairytale Silverstone drive. Long regarded as one of the grid’s most capable operators, he has too often been defined by what he hadn’t achieved rather than what he could do. Now, with Audi’s ambitious project taking shape, he may finally have a platform worthy of his talent. Few drivers have earned a late-career upswing more.
Gabriel Bortoleto: Few drivers can boast the endorsement of both Verstappen and Alonso as a star of the future. Bortoleto can. Beyond the endorsements lies something bigger: Brazil has been waiting for a new standard bearer in Formula 1. It feels wrong when that proud racing nation does not have an F1 superstar — Bortoleto seems ready to become that guy.
Alpine
Alpine has finally pressed reset. Renault’s decision to abandon its works engine and switch to Mercedes power is an admission that the old formula wasn’t delivering. It’s a humbling move, but potentially a liberating one. We’ve never seen Alpine operate close to its true ceiling. If this reset brings clarity and direction, a team long defined by promise might finally start delivering.
Pierre Gasly: Quietly one of 2025’s standout performers despite driving the grid’s weakest car, Gasly remains relentlessly reliable. He set the blueprint for how Formula 1 drivers can rebound from the dreaded Red Bull axe and has established himself as one of the grid’s best drivers outside of the Big Four. If you value consistent brilliance out of the limelight, Gasly is that guy.
Franco Colapinto: Colapinto’s 2025 was turbulent, and Netflix’s latest season of “Drive to Survive” offered a glimpse of the intense scrutiny swirling around him at Alpine. It’s fair to question whether we ever saw his true level amid the noise and pressure from executive advisor Flavio Briatore. Now, with what looks set to be a more competitive car beneath him, he has the opportunity to rediscover the spark that made him an overnight sensation. Redemption stories tend to resonate, and this one feels unfinished.
Cadillac
America’s new F1 team arrived with a bang, announcing itself to the world with a Super Bowl advert. Cadillac joins with serious backing and a point to prove after a long battle to secure its place on the grid. There’s swagger here, and ambition to match it. Success won’t come overnight, but make no mistake: this isn’t a marketing exercise. General Motors entered with Cadillac to win.
Sergio Pérez: Brutally dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2024, Pérez now has a shot at late-career reinvention with Cadillac. He won’t be fighting for wins or podiums in 2026, but he doesn’t need to. This is about rediscovering the qualities that made him such a prized asset: race craft, tire management and calm under pressure. If he helps to steady a new project and build it into something significant, it could reshape how his whole career is remembered.
Valtteri Bottas: Bottas is Finnish to his core — cool, understated and rarely rattled. For years he was the consummate teammate in Mercedes’ title machine, absorbing pressure alongside Hamilton. Since stepping away, he has seemed freer, more himself. Like Pérez, he returns after a year on the sidelines. Don’t let the mullet and mustache fool you — Bottas is still one of F1’s top talents.
