The Official F1 2026 silly season *contains speculation*

[Petrus1983]

[thegreenhell]

Petrus1983 said:

A surprise to no one.

The only slight surprise is that Yuki is staying at RB as reserve driver.

[TheDeuce]

thegreenhell said:

Petrus1983 said:

A surprise to no one.

The only slight surprise is that Yuki is staying at RB as reserve driver.

IKR

That either means no one else wanted him beyond F1 or perhaps that he's hoping to do a DR and get back in the driving seat after a while - seems like a very long, long shot though!

[gmaz]

And Arvid Lindblad to Racing Bulls.

[Mark-C]

Big Nanas said:

F2 Championship winner this year Fornaroli has joined McLaren as test and development driver.

And the sixth place driver gets an actual F1 race seat

[Supersam83]

BBC Sport said:

Red Bull will promote Frenchman Isack Hadjar to their senior team and hand 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad a debut Formula 1 season in 2026.

Lindblad, who has a Swedish father and a mother of Indian descent, will be team-mate to New Zealander Liam Lawson at second team Racing Bulls.

The shuffling of Red Bull's driver line-up sees Japanese Yuki Tsunoda lose his seat on the grid after five seasons.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/c5y0...

So another British driver joining the F1 grid.

Lando Norris
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
Oliver Bearman
Arvid Lindblad
Alex Albon

27% of the grid made up of British drivers now! The Silverstone crowd will be spoilt for choice next year.

I guess there was no space at Red Bull/Racing Bulls for Alex Dunne? I bet he wish he stayed within the McLaren young driver program.

[SpudLink]

thegreenhell said:

A surprise to no one.

The only slight surprise is that Yuki is staying at RB as reserve driver.

They are probably just keeping him so they can threaten the other drivers with “if you’re not good enough, we will replace you with Yuki at a moment’s notice”.
That is the Red Bull way.

[WPA]

Petrus1983 said:

Career suicide, Max's team in a car built and designed around him, wish him well but I doubt it is going to go well for him.

[HTP99]

WPA said:

Petrus1983 said:

Career suicide, Max's team in a car built and designed around him, wish him well but I doubt it is going to go well for him.

I assume he hasn't much choice in the matter!

[Supersam83]

All seats filled for 2026 now.

[wevster]

Oh dear

[InformationSuperHighway]

HTP99 said:

WPA said:

Petrus1983 said:

Career suicide, Max's team in a car built and designed around him, wish him well but I doubt it is going to go well for him.

I assume he hasn't much choice in the matter!

Indeed... it does seems to be sink or swim in the RB camps.. be as good as Max or you'll be fired after 6 races.

[ralphrj]

Supersam83 said:

So another British driver joining the F1 grid.

Lando Norris
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
Oliver Bearman
Arvid Lindblad
Alex Albon

27% of the grid made up of British drivers now! The Silverstone crowd will be spoilt for choice next year.

[Pedant mode]Albon races under the flag of Thailand[/Pedant mode]

[Adrian W]

Yet another rich kid on the grid

[Supersam83]

ralphrj said:

Supersam83 said:

So another British driver joining the F1 grid.

Lando Norris
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
Oliver Bearman
Arvid Lindblad
Alex Albon

27% of the grid made up of British drivers now! The Silverstone crowd will be spoilt for choice next year.

[Pedant mode]Albon races under the flag of Thailand[/Pedant mode]

For sponsorship reasons I think. His mum is from Thailand but he was born and bought up in the UK. He holds a British passport.

[Megaflow]

WPA said:

Petrus1983 said:

Career suicide, Max's team in a car built and designed around him, wish him well but I doubt it is going to go well for him.

Yep. After a great first season, he will now be finished. He won’t be allowed to beat the golden child.

[hondajack85]

I predict Hadjar will drive for Red Bull in 2026. First few races will worry Max and maybe be ahead in the points. Normal service will be resumed once they figure out what works for Isack and change it lol.
Yuki kept on in a test role which makes sense as he can compare 2025 to 2026 in his feedback.
They will announce it before Abu Dhabi so it doesnt appear like a reward for crashy behaviour with the Mclarens in sundays race. That pressure is off,or is it?

[rallycross]

wevster said:

Oh dear

Let’s give him a chance to show what he can do

iHis first season has been superb and with their new team principal maybe we will see him do well in the dreaded 2nd seat at Redbull. Just don’t expect him to be as quick as Max .

[Supersam83]

The 2nd Red Bull F1 seat. Where F1 drivers go to fail...

[paulguitar]

Supersam83 said:

The 2nd Red Bull F1 seat. Where F1 drivers go to fail...

Ricciardo didn't fail there.


He did see where the team was heading, though.