There’s plenty to be excited about in Formula 1 in 2026. A new set of regulations stands to upend the running order. Cadillac joins the grid as a brand-new team built from the ground up. Gone is Sauber, which called F1 home for 32 years (with a four-year hiatus in the late 2000s), but in its place is a potential-laden works entry from Audi. Someone other than Max Verstappen enters a season as the world champion for the first time since 2021.
But before we learn anything about these developments and the unpredictability they bring to the sport, the pinnacle of open-wheel racing observes a time-honored tradition: launch season. These are our first glimpses at the new paint jobs and sponsor stickers that will adorn these technical marvels as they race down start-finish straights around the world at more than 200 mph.
So, whose new looks inspire? Whose familiar designs are beginning to tire? ESPN’s Formula 1 team voted on the paint schemes for every team on the grid — the first seven entrants revealed last week, and updated with each subsequent launch — culminating in 2026’s livery Power Rankings.
1. Red Bull
Finally. For the first time since 2015, Red Bull has introduced its challenger in something other than matte navy with bright red accents. It was a bold, refreshing look when it debuted in 2016, but after a decade in the same livery, it had grown quite stale.
And it’s gone out the window in 2026. The gloss finish returns, as does the white outline around all “Red Bull” branding, recalling the height of Sebastian Vettel’s dominance of the sport with the energy drink giant.
There is a lot of early enthusiasm for this livery, but how well it’s remembered won’t be determined until we see it on track and in varying light conditions. Perhaps not coincidentally, Red Bull welcomes Ford onboard, and suddenly the RB22 sports a brighter blue that doesn’t look too dissimilar to the tone of Detroit’s famous Blue Oval.
In photos with less-intense light, though, the Red Bull doesn’t appear quite as bright and different than before. Under the sunshine of Melbourne at the season opener, if Verstappen’s new No. 3 isn’t sparkling and shimmering, there will be a collective sigh of resignation among our voting panel.
2. Mercedes
Mercedes’ recipe of its traditional silver, black and Petronas green remains strong, but this year’s livery — while aesthetically pleasing — is perhaps notice that the Brackley-based team is scratching the bottom of the barrel in terms of design concepts.
The progressive blocks of silver over the sidepods that give way to the black that dominates the back of the car is a strikingly novel play on the Silver Arrows’ aesthetic, but it’s also reminiscent of “build your own team” liveries on offer in various video game titles. Which is all to say, it wouldn’t look out of place in anyone else’s colors.
The wave of Mercedes emblems cascading down the airbox and over the engine covers is arguably the greatest returning design feature on the grid, and Petronas green is such a striking color that your humble author has built a small wardrobe around the unique hue, meaning that George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were always going to find their way somewhere near the front of this field.
3. Audi
When Audi teased its “concept livery” in December, it left many impressed, and asked the question: “Where will they go from here?” The answer to that question, it turns out, was the sticker shop.
When the spotlights shone on the R26 at its debut in Berlin, what was revealed was largely the same “concept livery” we’d seen a month ago, just with the team’s various sponsors plastered all over it. Considering the eye-catching graphics Audi used to announce its foray into F1 — a concept reminiscent of its Dakar-winning RS Q e-tron and the late Ken Block’s Hoonitron — this feels overly restrained.
It’s a clean design, the colors are relatively fresh within the paddock, but it’s a letdown for a brand had the potential to be the brightest and most-inspiring-looking team on the grid.
4. Ferrari
The sentiment behind Ferrari’s livery for the SF-26 is admirable, the considerable white around the cockpit and airbox taking inspiration from Niki Lauda’s 1975 title-winning 312 T. This year also sees a gloss finish return, paying homage to the team’s dominance of the 2000s with Michael Schumacher behind the wheel.
However, neither Lauda nor Schumacher boasted black wings in their days, that design element featuring in the 1980s and ’90s in between those iconic drivers’ tenures with the Scuderia, but instead their cars were fitted with red or white aero elements. The white stretching back down the engine cover makes the entire design feel slightly out of balance, although it certainly emphasizes the prominence of the sponsor placement — something HP will no doubt be thrilled by.
The mishmash of design inspirations is a letdown, although the simplicity of Ferrari’s vision should be commended.
5. Haas
Haas’ new title sponsorship deal with Toyota Gazoo Racing lends the American outfit an element of prestige, of investment, that has long been lacking from F1’s smallest team. That the giant “GR” branding replaces MoneyGram on the engine covers and the front wing is a huge step up from the past two years.
Other than that, though, it’s another black-and-white design with red accents. Take away the sponsor logos and many observers would have a hard time differentiating the VF-26 from any of the three Haas cars that came before it.
6. Alpine
It’s only when you look head-on at the A526 that you can truly tell it apart from Alpine’s 2025 challenger — and even then, the great differentiator is the tip of the nose being blue rather than the all-pink front end from last year. But after finishing dead last in the constructors’ championship, with less than a third of the points the next-worst team, one could argue that the outfit from Enstone had more important offseason work than dreaming up paint schemes.
Nevertheless, this direction of design is a significant letdown from the earlier days of Alpine’s partnership with title sponsor BWT. The 2024 season boasted a truly integrated blue-and-pink pattern, paying homage to both brands’ primary colors, but the this year and last have merely seen pink “BWT” lettering slapped on to blue sidepods. It’s hardly cohesive, it’s hardly original, and it’s hardly interesting.
7. Racing Bulls
From just the right angle, under just the right light, the side of the VCARB 03 nose looks like like the iconic can-inspired livery Red Bull used in its 2004 postseason test at Jerez after taking over Jaguar. Alas, Racing Bulls haven’t gone back to their roots, they’ve just opted for metallic blue accents in occasional angular shapes that recall the parallelograms of the energy drink’s branding.
Ultimately, this is a white car with the occasional splash of inspiration from its new engine partner in Ford, a disappointing amount of unfinished carbon fiber, and probably the most sponsor stickers that can reasonably be glued on to any single vehicle.
