There will be two new engine manufacturers in the same F1 season for the first time since 2000
Formula 1 is embarking on a new era with its 2026 season as the championship will introduce widespread changes to its technical regulations.
Car chassis will become lighter and smaller, while more emphasis will be placed on electrical energy, which will have a near-50:50 split with the internal combustion engine.
There are also two new power unit suppliers entering F1; the last time F1 had two engine manufacturers enter in the same season was 2000 with BMW and Honda.
So, who are the new suppliers for 2026 and which engine will all 11 teams use?
Power units used by each F1 team
| McLaren | Mercedes |
| Mercedes | Mercedes |
| Red Bull | Red Bull Ford |
| Ferrari | Ferrari |
| Williams | Mercedes |
| Racing Bulls | Red Bull Ford |
| Aston Martin | Honda |
| Haas | Ferrari |
| Audi | Audi |
| Alpine | Mercedes |
| Cadillac | Ferrari |
McLaren
Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
McLaren-Mercedes was one of F1’s most famous partnerships from the late 1990s to 2000s, having delivered championship success in '98, '99 and '08 with its legendary silver livery. But the arrival of Mercedes as a factory team in 2010 ultimately changed that relationship, as CEO Ron Dennis thought McLaren’s only hope of title glory was being a works squad rather than a customer outfit – so in came Honda for 2015.
It’s well documented, however, how disastrous that partnership turned out to be with Fernando Alonso famously calling it a “GP2 engine” at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix, so McLaren acted swiftly by signing Renault for 2018. That was never the final destination though, but more of a means to an end as McLaren, now under the leadership of Zak Brown, reignited its Mercedes partnership in 2021 and more success ultimately followed.
Daniel Ricciardo ended McLaren’s nine-year win drought with victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, before the Woking outfit claimed its first constructors’ crown for 26 years in 2024. McLaren romped its way to back-to-back championships in 2025, the year in which it also claimed its first double title win since 1998 as Lando Norris became world champion.
McLaren-Mercedes is therefore one of the most successful partnerships in F1 history, and the current contract runs until 2030.
Mercedes
Powertrain: Mercedes Partnership debut: 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix Wins since current partnership started: 1222009 constructors' world champion Brawn GP only had one year on the grid because it was bought by Mercedes for 2010, marking the first time the Silver Arrows had an F1 team since 1955. But it wasn’t like the German marque was completely absent from the championship for 55 years, because it had obviously served as a power unit supplier to the likes of McLaren, Sauber and Brawn.
So Mercedes already had an engine in waiting for when the team made its comeback and it wasn’t that long after that it became dominant. The 2014 season introduced hybrid cars, and innovative designs like splitting the turbocharger arrangement helped Mercedes storm to a record-breaking eight consecutive constructors’ titles.
Even if the team is no longer dominant, Mercedes is still the most represented engine on the 2026 grid with the Silver Arrows, McLaren, Williams and Alpine all being powered by it.
Red Bull
Red Bull Ford Powertrains
It isn’t just F1 embarking on a new era this upcoming season because so is Red Bull, which will use in-house engines for the first time since it joined the championship in 2005. This comes after its most recent supplier, Honda, announced at the end of 2020 that it would leave F1 following the 2021 campaign, and although the Japanese marque ultimately made a U-turn on that decision, it was too late to continue the Red Bull deal.
Read Also:
Why the Red Bull-Honda bond was beyond saving after F1 2025
That’s because the Austrian outfit had already committed to Red Bull Powertrains for 2026 with consultancy from Ford, which is ending its 23-year absence from the championship. The American manufacturer is also one of F1’s most successful engine suppliers with 13 drivers’ championships from 1968 to 1994, as well as 10 constructors’ titles between ‘68 and ‘81, alongside partner Cosworth.
Despite the numerous championships Red Bull and Ford have both won, however, expectations aren’t particularly high for 2026 with team principal Laurent Mekies claiming it would be “silly” to think they could immediately match the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari.
Ferrari
Powertrain: Ferrari Partnership debut: 1950 Monaco Grand Prix Wins since current partnership started: 247Ferrari is the only team to have contested each F1 season since the championship began in 1950 and every time it has competed with its own engine. It will therefore come as no surprise that the Italian marque is statistically F1’s most successful power unit supplier with 16 constructors’ titles and 15 drivers’ crowns, but Ferrari is on an 18-year championship drought and it may be hard to see that ending any time soon.
Despite that, Ferrari is still well represented as an engine manufacturer on the 2026 grid with the Scuderia, Cadillac and Haas all using the power unit.
Williams
Alex Albon, Williams, Carlos Sainz, Williams
Williams has been at both ends of the championship since its partnership with Mercedes began at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, having enjoyed mild success in the early turbo hybrid era with back-to-back third-place finishes before soon slumping to the bottom as financial woes hit.
Despite the up-and-down results, Williams has still enjoyed a close relationship with its engine supplier, because some Mercedes junior drivers have been loaned to the British outfit such as George Russell and Nyck de Vries.
The 2025 season also marked significant improvement for Williams as it jumped up to fifth in the championship, thanks to the leadership of James Vowles, previously chief strategist at Mercedes, plus its strong driver pairing of Alex Albon and new signing Carlos Sainz. Williams therefore has a lot of optimism for the upcoming season considering how Mercedes mastered the last engine switch.
Racing Bulls
Powertrain: Red Bull Ford Partnership debut: N/A Wins since current partnership started: N/ARacing Bulls will also use Red Bull Ford engines for the upcoming season, just like its sister outfit, and this will be the Faenza-based squad's fifth power unit supplier since Red Bull bought it in 2006.
Back then it was known as Toro Rosso, which used a Cosworth engine for its debut campaign before switching to Ferrari for 2007. That partnership was as successful as it could have been given Sebastian Vettel won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, but then the team switched to Renault for the start of turbo hybrid cars after Red Bull had just won four consecutive titles with the French supplier.
Toro Rosso then flicked between Renault and Ferrari for the next few years, before effectively being used as Red Bull’s test dummy for Honda engines in 2018. Even through the various rebrands the Italian outfit has had since then, the Japanese manufacturer remained as its power unit supplier until the end of 2025.
Aston Martin
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Honda started to have second thoughts about leaving the championship when the 2026 regulations went in the direction that it was hoping for. But by this point Red Bull had already planned its own power unit project, so multiple teams started showing an interest in partnering with Honda from 2026 and ultimately, it was Aston Martin who won the battle.
It means 2025 was the Silverstone-based squad’s final campaign with a Mercedes power unit, which it had used ever since its Force India days in 2009, bringing mild success as Sergio Perez’s victory for Racing Point at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix was the highlight. There is hope that Aston Martin will achieve much greater success from 2026 given its promotion to a works team status and legendary designer Adrian Newey now being its boss.
Aston Martin has also had plenty of investment thanks to billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll, but everything has failed to materialise yet given it finished seventh in the 2025 standings, so 2026 is seen as the season everything must come together – particularly for its 44-year-old driver Fernando Alonso.
Haas
Powertrain: Ferrari Partnership debut: 2016 Australian Grand Prix Wins since current partnership started: 0Haas has been powered by Ferrari engines ever since its F1 debut in 2016, and the two have formed a close partnership. That’s because the American outfit has bought many of its car parts from the famous Scuderia, which may be controversial to some, but Haas views it as necessary for such a small team – compared to its rivals – to be competitive.
It even has a previous Ferrari junior as one of its drivers in Oliver Bearman, similar to how Russell drove for Williams for three years before his Mercedes move. There’s no sign of this partnership ending, despite Haas never finishing higher than seventh since its fifth-placed result in 2018.
Audi
Audi F1 Team RS26 concept livery
Audi is the second new engine manufacturer coming into F1 this year alongside Red Bull Ford, as the German marque will make its debut as a factory team after completing a full takeover of Sauber.
Just like Red Bull it is rather unknown how Audi will fare, but chief operating officer Mattia Binotto said in May that “we won’t have the best power unit” considering the competition. So the team is aware that success may only come over time, particularly as Sauber finished next-to-bottom in the 2025 standings despite scoring a solid 70 points with a strong driver pairing of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
Alpine
Powertrain: Mercedes Partnership debut: N/A Wins since current partnership started: N/AAlpine made a controversial change for 2026, as parent company Renault ended its F1 engine project in favour of becoming a Mercedes customer. The news was obviously unwelcome to those who were already working on the 2026 power unit at its Viry-Chatillon base, so much so that a group of them staged a protest at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix with messages such as “save 50 years of French Formula 1”.
Read Also:
Renault engine employees push back in Monza: "Without F1, Viry has no purpose"
But Renault could no longer explain why it was spending so much money on its engine project, only to be significantly worse than its rivals; Alpine finished last in the 2025 standings. Now former Renault CEO Luca de Meo even once said he needed to look at “shortcuts” to achieve success, and what better way to do that than by signing a deal with what’s seen as the strongest engine supplier?
Cadillac
Powertrain: Ferrari Partnership debut: N/A Wins since current partnership started: N/ACadillac will become F1’s 11th team in 2026 when it makes its debut at the Australian Grand Prix, marking an end to what was a long process to get to the grid. Back in 2023, General Motors and Andretti Global announced their intention to get into F1, but that was rejected as the championship wanted the team to agree to building its own engines.
There was then a lot of back and forth on the matter, which included disagreements between F1 and Michael Andretti, son of 1978 world champion Mario. But a lot changed when Michael stepped aside, sponsor TWG Global took on more responsibilities and the proposed team name was changed from Andretti Racing to Cadillac.
Soon after all of this happened, the Cadillac entry was approved for 2026, when it will use Ferrari engines and replace Sauber as a customer of the Scuderia. The American outfit will use those power units until the end of 2028, when the General Motors-built engines will come into play.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
Category: General Sports
