An F1 fan's wishlist for the 2026 season

The 2026 F1 season marks the beginning of an entirely new era of the sport. New power units and a new aerodynamic philosophy mean that we're looking at the 2026 season with both a lot of expectations and trepidation.

On one hand, we do not want a return of single-team dominance, on the other, the ground effect had gotten a bit stale, and 2026 means we start afresh with something different.

As the new year begins, what are some of the things that would be on the wishlist of an F1 fan? Let's take a look.

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#1 An F1 title battle that goes down to the last race of the season

Well, this has to be at the top, doesn't it? As we move on from the ground effect regulations, we're moving on from an era that ended with 3 drivers fighting for the championship in the last race of the season. Unfortunately, when we talk about F1, it's not often that we have title battles. In the last 5 years, we have had two battles for the championship.

If we talk about the last decade, we've had 3 battles that went down to the wire. For the new regulations coming up in 2026, any F1 fan would love to see a title battle that goes down to the last race of the season.

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#2 Not a repeat of 2014, where a single car/manufacturer was just too far ahead of everybody else

The last time we had a switch when it came to the power units was in 2014, from naturally aspirated V8 engines to V6 turbo hybrids. One of the major red flags of those regulations came in the first couple of preseason tests, where the power unit disparity dropped a few jaws.

Mercedes was just so far ahead that the chasing pack had no hope, not only for 2014 but for multiple years after that. A lot of the fans are hoping that we do not see a repeat of such a scenario, where one team and one power unit are just night and day ahead of everyone else.

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#3 Cars that have better 'raceability'

One of the age-old complaints from the fans when it comes to F1 is the lack of close wheel-to-wheel racing. The turbulence produced by cars up front makes it hard to follow and, hence, hinders any kind of wheel-to-wheel racing.

A part of it was addressed early on in 2022 in the previous regulations. Unfortunately, as the regulations matured, we were back to square one, and 2025 was one of the worst when it came to wheel-to-wheel racing.

With the new regulations, "raceability" is going to be an often-used term for sure. Overtakes should not be too easy or too difficult, and it would be interesting to see if F1 can find the right balance. For an average fan, this would be one of the key things on the wishlist for sure.

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#4 More than 4 different teams on the podium

If we look back at the 2025 F1 season, then some of the things that stood out more than anything else were that there were as many as 7 different teams that made it to the podium. A part of it was down to the field spread being so small that you could see an Isack Hadjar or a Carlos Sainz secure a podium on merit.

It would be hard to expect the field spread to be anywhere close to the levels we saw in 2025, but if we are in a situation where more than 4 teams are on the podium, then that would be an indicator that there is still some level of unpredictability in the season.

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#5 The field spread is not massive

Finally, we do not want to start the regulations from a point where the field spread is massive, and hence we have a definitive frontrunner, midfield, and backmarkers. What this often does is limit the drivers to competing in only a certain set of positions.

Last season, we had Pierre Gasly of Alpine consistently securing Q3 spots and often starting the races in the top 10, even though the car was overall the slowest on the grid. While expecting the same would not be possible, we can at least hope that the field isn't spread out to such an extent that the drivers don't have a hope of fighting beyond the positions that they've gotten used to during the season.

Edited by Mitali