“Give Max the championship already. Red Bull have already won the Constructors’ championship.” These were genuine tweets after the first round last year. The races from there on were some of the best we’ve seen – constant nail-biting finishes as the field grew ever closer. Bet the people who said Red Bull had already won the season after the first round are feeling a bit silly now?
My feeling is though – after watching Formula One my whole life – that we’re in for more action and close racing this year. In the closing races of last year, we weren’t sure which of the top four teams would come out on top and we were almost always wrong.
This year, with most teams focused fully on 2026’s big regulations change, the field’s performance will stay near enough the same as last year, albeit with many driver changes.
Take 2021 for example
If we ignore the finale, 2021 was one of the best seasons on record. Two drivers battling it out for glory in – importantly – two different cars. It wasn’t even meant to happen, but because of the pandemic, the regulation change that was planned for 2021 had been moved one year further to 2022. This meant that most teams used similar cars to their 2020 challengers, opening the door to a historic season.
This is exactly what’s going to happen this year. We’ve been given a taste of just how hard Max Verstappen will push to defend his title and this year will be no different.
It’s not only the cars, though, which will make it a season to watch. Most teams have opted for new drivers, with most of the changes being a new wave of rookies. We have Gabriel Bortoleto, last season’s F2 champion, being tested against an established driver in Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber before their switch to Audi.
That’s not even mentioned one of the biggest moves in sporting history – Lewis Hamilton in the iconic red Ferrari suit. He’s spent his whole career with a Mercedes engine behind him, taking him to seven world championships, but will he get to grips with a Ferrari? Ignoring the private testing crash, of course.
Even non-F1 fans that I’ve spoken to have found the move shocking – making the pressure on him even more immense. The photos shared on social media have been so well received that he’ll be hoping to make a good impression when testing in Bahrain starts in two weeks.
It’s hard to say who’ll be champion at the end of the season too – there’ll be no one saying that Red Bull have won if they win the first race this year. Call it unpopular, but I seriously rate Oscar Piastri higher than Lando Norris, and I hope that he can show what he’s made of truly with less McLaren politics.
There’ll hopefully be a culture shift at Woking – the team now know they have what it takes to fight at the top. The Papaya Rules will become clear closer to the middle of the season, meaning both competitors must fight hard in the first half to show that they should be the priority.
My only hope is that the FIA slow down their controversial ideas for the sport – the president has been in the media almost every week this offseason and the mood there must be tense. He rules it like a dictatorship and the new Grand Prix Drivers Association should be able to fight back and take the sport back to its roots – real racing.
Here’s to a great season then. You’ll be able to follow along with our coverage on Vavel.com.
