Overview
- The 24-race campaign runs from March 6 in Australia to December 4 in Abu Dhabi, adds Madrid and drops Imola, and shifts Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to April for Ramadan.
- Preseason comprises a private shakedown in Barcelona on January 26–30 followed by two Bahrain tests on February 11–13 and 18–20 with media access.
- Launch dates are set for several entries, including Red Bull and Racing Bulls on January 15 (Detroit), Audi on January 20 (Berlin), Honda on January 20 (Tokyo), Alpine and Ferrari on January 23 (Barcelona and Fiorano), Haas online on January 23, Aston Martin on February 9 (Silverstone), and Cadillac tied to the Super Bowl on February 8.
- Alpine will run its A526 at a January 11 Barcelona shakedown for Franco Colapinto, and the team has retained Stuart Barlow as his race engineer.
- The FIA underscores that initial gaps are likely to come from power‑unit performance under the 2026 rules, which introduce new cars, new hybrid architectures and 100% sustainable fuel.