F1 Q&A: Grands prix under threat and should Ferrari and McLaren focus on 2026?

With the field likely to shift around in 2026, should teams like Ferrari or McLaren sacrifice this year and 2025 and focus on 2026 to win? – Liam

All teams are wrestling with the trade-off between 2025 and 2026, and have been for some time.

The 2026 regulations are such a massive change – with new rules for both chassis and engine – that teams will inevitably have to balance resource between the two projects.

They are helped in this by the fact the FIA has forbidden teams from starting work on the aerodynamics of their 2026 cars until 1 January 2025. But there is still a mountain of work to do on the structural and mechanical aspects before then.

There is no reason why McLaren or Ferrari should be singled out, though. McLaren are a front-running team – arguably the front-running team – and Ferrari can never afford not to be competitive.

Neither is likely to completely abandon their 2025 projects when they are in that situation. McLaren believe they can be world champions next year.

The teams more likely to do that would be further down the grid, who are uncompetitive but see 2026 as an opportunity to move forward, such as Williams, Alpine, Haas and Sauber.

For Sauber, 2026 is especially important because that’s the year they morph officially into the Audi factory team.

Of course, the top teams will also be working to ensure they are in as competitive a position as possible for 2026. But that doesn’t mean abandoning this year or next.