2026 F1 rookies pre-assessment: New beginnings for all

Jonathan Victoria • 24 Feb 2026 Features

One new driver and two new teams for a brand new era of Formula 1.

The 2026 season is going to be one for the history books, with the new regulations set to shake things up like never before.

With the new campaign comes some new faces, albeit only one in the driving seat.

Given that there’s only one rookie making their debut this season, we’ve expanded our pre-assessment to encompass the two incoming teams as well.

Testing is over and we’ve been given a decent picture as to where the teams are, so it’s time to give my thoughts on the rookies for the year.

2026 F1 rookies: Who are they?

2025 saw six rookies join the grid, a major overhaul that felt like it was much needed. From those six, five are continuing on into 2026.

We then have one more rookie driver joining the pack this year in the form of Arvid Lindblad for Racing Bulls. He comes in to the second seat alongside Liam Lawson after Isack Hadjar’s promotion to Red Bull (sorry to see you gone, Yuki).

But of course, there’s more than just a new driver on the grid. The Sauber team has unfortunately left once again, now replaced by Audi, who has finally joined the pinnacle of motorsport after a few years of hype.

And expanding the grid to 11 teams once again for the first time in 10 years, Cadillac fought hard to be accepted and aim to bring some more American flair to F1.

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

As the only rookie driver for 2026, Lindblad has an easy route to winning Rookie of the Year. He also will likely be under less scrutiny from his team and the Red Bull family as a whole given the changes that came over the last 12 months, most notably in his favour the departure of former team principal Christian Horner and adviser Helmut Marko.

The 18-year-old did just one year of Formula 3, finishing fourth, and one year of Formula 2, finishing sixth, before getting the promotion. He has just the one championship in his cabinet - the 2025 Formula Regional Oceania Championship. 

He also won the 2024 Macau Formula 4 race and has decent placings in other categories as well, so his promotion isn’t completely unwarranted.

However, as you may probably be able to tell by my tone, I’m not the biggest fan of this move from the Milton Keynes clan.

Yuki Tsunoda certainly didn’t impress alongside Max Verstappen last year, but that didn’t feel like his fault but more of how difficult that car was to drive in the previous ground effects era. To completely drop him off the grid feels completely unjust to me.

While I believe Yuki should have just been put back into the Racing Bulls seat, I am a big believer in bringing in new talents. 

I also think he has a chance to exceed many expectations given that the RB car could be leading the midfield pack if their testing performance is anything to go by. 

Most impressively for them an Red Bull, becoming a fully independent for the engine hasn’t hampered them in any way - in fact, the Red Bull Ford DM01 actually holds a lot of performance, with many on the grid believing it could potentially actually be at the front of the pack at some tracks.

I will be wishing the best for Lindblad and hope to see some good performances - and even better social videos with Lawson.

Championship result prediction - 14th

Audi

Audi is a historic brand within motorsport, boasting an incredible trophy cabinet that includes two World Rally Championships, two World Endurance Championships, a number of 24 Hours of Le Mans victories, and a Formula E title in Season 4 of the series.

Talks of Audi joining Formula 1 had been going on for years, with the German manufacturer resisting each time, most recently due to the company’s opinion that competing in F1 is not relevant to their road cars.

However, ever since hybrid power unit technology had been introduced into the sport, Audi’s interest started to peak to the point that in August 2022 they announced the intention to join the grid as an engine manufacturer in 2026 when the regulations change again, with the idea of further development to the hybrid power unit technology enticing them.

In October of that year, a partnership with Sauber was confirmed, with them taking control of the team from 2026. They then replaced then-Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, who will have the honour of being the first Audi F1 drivers.

I’ve had my tinfoil hat on for some time when it comes to Audi. I’ve long believed that, with how much promotion F1 was doing to big up Audi, they’d come in and instantly be competing.

After Testing, I now don’t quite believe that, although I think they will be a solid midfield runner. They didn’t really put a foot wrong during the Barcelona shakedown or either week of the Bahrain tests, so I think they’ve got a decent package that they can build upon.

To be fair to them, that is an extremely impressive feat considering they have no data to run off of for the car design or engine, which is most important given that they also come in as a power unit manufacturer as well.

They also have an ideal driver lineup in my opinion, partnering a young and promising up-and-comer with a grizzled veteran who likely only has a couple more years in him before he hands the reins over.

I like Audi a lot and I’m predicting a decent year from them. They won’t set the world alight but I certainly think they’ll prove they belong on the grid.

Championship result prediction - 8th

Cadillac

It was a long road for Cadillac to earn a place on the grid for 2026. Despite Formula 1 really pushing for an 11th team when the new regs came in, they seemed very against the idea of letting American car manufacturer General Motors enter.

After some time and more than a few costume changes to get Formula 1 to tentatively approve their proposal, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team was confirmed for the 2026 season just in time for the then-latest Concorde Agreement.

It is the first debutant team since fellow American outfit Haas was introduced in 2016 and will also make it an 11-team grid since the same year.

They’re also bringing back two fan-favourite drivers in Aussie-Finn Valtteri Bottas and the Mexican Minister of Defence Sergio Perez, a solid line-up that will help deliver good guidance as they look to build up to becoming a potential contender one day.

Saying that, it will be a long road ahead for the side as testing showed they will likely be at the tail end of the order, with fights with only Aston Martin likely in the beginning.

One thing they have going for them is that for now they’re being powered by a Ferrari engine, which proved to be very strong over the two weeks in Bahrain.

But other than that, Cadillac doesn't look very competitive. They have good experience as part of the team, not just in the drivers but with the likes of F1 veterans Graeme Lowdon. Pat Symonds, Rob White, Nick Chester and Jon Tomlinson, so they will hopefully be able to build up and develop over time.

Importantly for them, though, they’ll want to be in a good stable place by the time they move from Ferrari power to becoming a fully-fledged engine manufacturer themselves, with the goal of using GM Performance Power Units from 2029.

In short, we shouldn’t expect anything major from Cadillac on track, but off track, their commitment to growing their brand through marketing efforts could lead them to becoming one of the more loveable outfits on the grid. Either that or they’ll become insufferable. Guess we’ll find out either way soon enough…

Championship result prediction - 11th

Quick mentions

While these are the three rookies for the year, there are a couple of other teams who are entering a new era within the new F1 era. I feel like I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t mention them, too.

Alpine

Renault → Mercedes

After a tumultuous past few years, both on and off track, Renault bowed out of Formula 1 as a power unit manufacturer, leaving Alpine to search for a new engine supplier.

They ultimately turned to Mercedes, who have been tipped to be strongest in this new era owing to their dominance during the last power unit regulation era in the 2010s.

Not too much will change other than the engine. They still have Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto in the cars, Flavio Briatore has still Mafia’d his way back into the team principal role, but if testing has shown anything, the engine change has seen them potentially make a big jump further up the field and could be more consistent point scorers now.

Aston Martin

Mercedes → Honda

Ever since billionaire Lawrence Stroll took over the Silverstone-based team, Aston Martin have talked up how soon enough will be their time, and even pinpointed 2026 as the time they take a giant leap forward to leading the grid.

Instead, moving from the favoured Mercedes power unit to the returning Honda has brought nothing but trouble. Testing was abysmal for them, ending with only six untimed laps on the final day.

There’s no doubt that Adrian Newey has tried to work his magic. The car has some notably different design parts that could make a difference if they can sort out the cars reliability. But note the key words there of could and if.

Fernando Alonso will no doubt be having nightmares already after his last stint with Honda, which led to his first “retirement” back in 2018. If the car shows no promise of improvement before the end of the year, I could see him walking again, which would be a mighty shame for one so legendary.