Here are all the dates that F1’s 2026 cars and liveries will be revealed

The long, cold winter hasn’t got any shorter, but Formula 1’s 2026 season is edging ever closer. With the biggest regulatory reset in a generation looming, the sport’s pre-season calendar is already filling up fast.

And for F1 fans, there’s plenty to chew over before a wheel even turns in anger.

With joint launches and livery reveals, and two new names on the grid, this is not just another slow trudge toward Melbourne. This is the build-up to a fundamentally different Formula 1 season. With Audi and Cadillac joining the circus in 2026, a promise of less obese cars, and active aero replacing DRS, this feels like the first time in a long time that F1 has been starting from something even like a clean sheet.

The story of 2026’s cars kicks off on 15 January in Detroit, where Red Bull and Racing Bulls will roll out their 2026 liveries together in a joint event with Ford as the technical engine partner. Red Bull Ford Powertrains is making its competitive debut as a full works operation, and hosting the launch at Ford’s US home turf underlines just how big this partnership is. For all the talk of paint schemes, this is really about engines, identity, and whether Red Bull’s new partnership can re-establish it as F1’s performance benchmark.

Five days later, 20 January becomes one of the busiest dates of the winter for F1 fans, as Audi will officially launch its first Formula 1 car since the Auto Union era in Berlin, officially planting a flag in F1-land. The launch marks the end of Sauber’s long transition and the beginning of Audi’s long-promised factory era. A full race livery will be revealed, following the titanium-and-red concept shown late last year.

On the same day, Honda will unveil its 2026 power unit in Tokyo, ahead of its exclusive partnership with Aston Martin. The guest list alone tells you how significant this is: Honda’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe, Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll, and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. After walking away once already, Honda is back with serious intent, and Aston Martin’s future competitiveness may hinge on how strong this reunion proves to be - and how well the maestro that is Adrian Newey can integrate it with his car’s design.

Mercedes will play things more cautiously, with the Silver Arrows releasing renders of the W17 on 22 January. They will give fans the first official glimpse of their 2026 challenger before any track running begins. The full digital launch follows later, but this initial reveal will give a first opportunity to see the car that Mercedes will hope will launch it back into the kind of race-winning repetition that was so common for the Brackley squad prior to 2022’s ground effect era.

23 January, meanwhile, will be absolute chaos with three teams clamouring for your attention. Alpine will launch in Barcelona with a typically cryptic promise that it has “something to show you”, while Haas will unveil its 2026 livery online. Ferrari also joins the party on the same day, with Fred Vasseur confirming a launch at Fiorano – shock! Details are scarce, but when Ferrari speaks, the paddock listens, especially after a 2025 season that left them fourth and searching for answers.

And if you are wondering why one big name is missing from that list, you’re not alone. McLaren, the 2025 Constructors' and Drivers’ Champions, thanks to Lando Norris’ consistent season, has yet to announce when its 2026 challenger will be announced.

Then comes the serious business. From January 26 to 30, teams head to Barcelona for the first private pre-season test. Five days behind closed doors, running radically new cars under radically new regulations.

Mercedes’ full-season launch follows on 2 February, with Toto Wolff, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli front and centre as the team explains its vision for the new era. A day later, Williams reveals the FW48 livery, carrying real momentum after a surprise fifth-place finish in 2025.

8 February brings something completely different. Cadillac will unveil its F1 livery during a Super Bowl advert… because of course it will. The American marque’s debut, featuring the returning Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, leans hard into spectacle and shows how the US market shapes Formula 1 under Liberty Media ownership.

Finally, on 9 February, Aston Martin launches the AMR26. Teased with a pencil sketch, the reveal nods subtly to Adrian Newey’s arrival as team principal. In a season defined by engineering ingenuity, that may be one of the most important storylines of all.

And while you may be sitting there thinking, “Great, I’ll know what the new cars look like fairly soon!” – not so fast. F1 teams are famously secretive when it comes to their new cars. There is a chance that, even if the car being launched is touted as an actual 2026 car, the machines that will roll out of the pit lane for the first race will be significantly different.