Who could win F1 2026? Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert reveal their favorites. Ex-F1 drivers Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert share their predictions for the 2026 season.

F1 | Favorites shift for 2026: predictions from two former drivers

The 2026 Formula 1 season has not yet begun, but former drivers Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert have shared their predictions on who might become the next world champion. The 2025 season concluded just a month ago, and in a few weeks, drivers will return to the track for the first of three pre-season test sessions in Barcelona, preparing for the 2026 championship. In February, teams will move to Bahrain to gather additional data ahead of the season opener on March 8 in Australia. Herbert and Hill have attempted to forecast both the potential world champion and the constructor who could challenge McLaren most closely.

The prediction

During a podcast for The Race, Johnny Herbert answered a question about which team might win the Constructors’ Championship: “I’d probably say Mercedes, because I think at the moment they are working very well. I think Antonelli probably needs to improve his consistency. That’s probably his weak point at the moment. George [Russell] has done a brilliant job. I’m sure they will be at the front, fighting for wins and potentially the championship.”

For both Herbert and Hill, a Mercedes driver appears to be the favorite for the Drivers’ Championship as well. Hill added: “We’ve spent so much time talking about the usual suspects. And I think there are some doubts about Red Bull. I’d say the outsider here is George Russell, who performed brilliantly, consistently throughout the year, in a car that wasn’t traditionally a winner.”

While Mercedes and George Russell seem to be the favorites for the 2026 season, Herbert also noted that another team could emerge as a surprise contender: Aston Martin. This suggests that the 2026 season could offer a mix of expected dominance from Mercedes and unexpected challenges from teams like Aston Martin, keeping fans eagerly anticipating the opening races.

As the 2026 regulations reset the playing field, the endorsements from veterans like Hill and Herbert suggest that George Russell’s maturity and Mercedes’ technical resurgence could define the next decade of the sport. While McLaren and Red Bull remain formidable, the shift in focus toward Brackley and the potential rise of Aston Martin indicates that F1 fans are in for one of the most unpredictable title races in recent memory. These early predictions will face their first real-world reality check on the tarmac.