F1 2026: The big stories to watch for
The Race F1 Podcast
The Race Media Ltd
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 January 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's 2026, and what better way to start the new year than with an episode of The Race F1 Podcast! And there's no better place to start than with a look ahead to what the 2026 Formula 1 season has in store.
Jon Noble and Scott Mitchell-Malm join Edd Straw to explain what to expect in 2026, in particular in terms of the quality of the racing on track. We look at the impact the energy demands of the new power units will have on how the season plays out, and what on-track battling might look at.
The question of how likely it is a team will start in dominant form, Brawn 2009 or Mercedes 2014 style, and how quickly others can catch up. We also run through the key questions of the year, including Lewis Hamilton’s prospects, the chances of the new Red Bull power unit being a hit or miss, Aston Martin’s hopes and whether Cadillac will be anything more than a backmarker.
Plus, in a special segment with Shell, we explore the 2026 changes to fuel.
Learn more about race fuel via the Shell Motorsports Website and follow @shellmotorsport on Instagram
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic |
| 0:02.7 | The race is on, and with just three and a half weeks to go until the first pre-season |
| 0:16.3 | test in Barcelona, the 2026 season is fast approaching. |
| 0:20.0 | But what should we expect from arguably the |
| 0:22.0 | biggest regulation overhaul in Grand Prix history? And what will the key storylines be for the season? |
| 0:27.5 | I'm Edstraw and joining me to bring in the new year are John Noble and Scott Mitchell Mound. |
| 0:32.9 | Right, John, there's so much that's different about the cars this year, brand new power units, |
| 0:38.0 | all new chassis regs, the advanced sustainable fuels are coming in. |
| 0:41.8 | Key question is, will the racing be any good? |
| 0:46.0 | I think in the end, we'll probably get there, but I don't think that's going to be the |
| 0:50.7 | story over the first six months of the year, and especially the start of the season. |
| 0:54.0 | I think there's so much unpredictability. There's so much unclear about |
| 0:58.6 | how the energy harvesting is going to work, the deployment, what the teams are going to do. |
| 1:04.2 | And I think the battle will be in understanding, are these cars too energy-starved to allow good |
| 1:10.1 | racing? So are we going to head for economy drives |
| 1:13.3 | and a bit of a few boring Sundays until we come up with some real changes or are things |
| 1:18.0 | to be good from the start? So I think it's going to be a shaky start to the season, but I think |
| 1:22.3 | there are kind of tools, as the FIA says, to make amends as we go on to hopefully get us in a better |
| 1:29.3 | place longer term. And Scott, obviously you're in a past life very familiar with energy management |
| 1:34.8 | racing from the world of Formula E and a world you still keep an eye on. So could this end up |
| 1:41.0 | being like some of the more extreme energy management palaton races or something? |
| 1:45.0 | Or are you a little bit more optimistic? |
... |
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