The 2026 F1 grid would have as many as 11 teams this time around as the sport welcomes Cadillac this season. When it comes to driver lineups, there are different schools of thought on how teams approach the pairing. Sometimes the focus is on putting together the best possible lineup. On other occasions, the team builds an entire project around one of the drivers.
Both approaches have their pros and cons for sure, even though the approach of having a lead driver and then a supporting cast is something that’s limited to the frontrunning teams.
With that being said, as we get ready for the start of the 2026 F1 season, the seats on the grid have already been filled, and we’re looking at a return of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. How do the driver lineups of different teams stack up against each other? Let’s take a look as we rank them from best to worst.
Ranking the 2026 F1 driver lineups
#1 McLaren (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri)
At the top we have the driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. McLaren has arguably put together one of the more balanced and evenly matched pairings on the grid, as the drivers are quite similarly matched and more often than not capable of extracting the most from the car.
#2 Mercedes (George Russell and Kimi Antonelli)
At #2 we have George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Now, this one might surprise a few because this pick has been made somewhat based on potential. While Russell is one of the top 3 F1 drivers in terms of performance right now, Antonelli will be in his second season with Mercedes, and what he’s shown in the last quarter of last season is very impressive, hence the high ranking.
#3 Ferrari (Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton)
Last season the ranking was topped by this pair, but the way the season went, it’s just too much wishful thinking to just assume that Lewis Hamilton is going to nail it. If the 7x F1 champion proves everyone wrong in 2026 and performs the way he should, this pairing could end up being the best on the grid.
#4 Williams (Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz)
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz find themselves in 4th, and a part of it had to do with the fact that now both of them are entrenched within the squad, and it’s all about trying to maximize the results. Williams has a strong pairing now that’s ready to step up.
#5 Audi (Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto)
Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg are the right mix of youth and experience, and the duo showed in 2025 that they can extract performance if the car is good enough. Audi has a decent pairing for its first season in F1.
#6 Red Bull (Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar)
Ideally the pairing would get rated higher because Max Verstappen is the best driver in F1 and Isack Hadjar impressed everyone in 2025, but the issue with Red Bull is how it operates, and for a team where the second driver is severely disadvantaged, it’s hard to call the lineup anything more than a one-driver pair unless things change in 2026.
#7 Haas (Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman)
A strong and promising pair, but there’s a serious question mark over what the experienced Esteban Ocon is capable of. The Frenchman got handled by his rookie teammate Ollie Bearman last year, and it came as a surprise to quite a few. 2026 is crucial for the French driver because his stock can take a massive hit if he loses to Bearman again.
#8 Aston Martin (Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll)
With Fernando Alonso being part of the outfit, the pairing could have been rated higher, but the reality is that Lance Stroll’s performances and the ever-increasing gulf between him and his veteran teammate just show that the team leaves a lot on the table.
#9 Racing Bulls (Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad)
The Racing Bulls combination of Lawson and Lindblad is being rated conservatively here, as it’s hard to predict how the rookie would handle these new regulations. There’s a big question mark over Arvid and how his first F1 season would go.
#10 Cadillac (Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas)
Another driver pairing with a bit of a question mark around them is the Perez-Bottas pairing. How do they adapt to the new regulations and how they go about racing after a year away from the sport is going to be an interesting development.
#11 Alpine (Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto)
At the bottom we have the pairing of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. The Argentinian is, unfortunately, the weaker link here, as his 2025 was underwhelming at best, making it hard to put a thumb on what we can expect from him in 2026.
Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli