2026 F1 World Championship: Who Will Win?

The 2026 F1 World Championship will be tense and exciting, with several drivers competing for the title. The main odds comparison sites have already identified the favorites for next year, such as Max Verstappen or the outgoing champion, Lando Norris, but also some possible surprises like Piastri.

For those who are ready to bet on names that currently have less chance, such as Vettel or Hamilton, they can do so by taking advantage of one of the many bonuses available on the web, verified and evaluated by oddschecker.com, one of the most authoritative comparison sites in the iGaming sector. Ferrari could in fact benefit from the rule changes that will come into effect in the new 2026 season and return to its former competitiveness.

And who knows? There may be a significant number of fans and enthusiasts ready to bet on an underdog, since last year’s championship was hard-fought until the very end. This year the show could be even more entertaining, because F1 management wrote down a brand new rulebook to maximise battles and takeovers on racetracks. The new rules have been thoroughly studied by comparing data and analytics. The purpose of this review was to add a new dimension to Grand Prixes and keep fans and supporters glued until the last turn. Several times, in the past, races were utterly dominated by the driver starting in pole position, who finished the GP without any sweat. This is not spectacular to watch and F1 would rather see heads-to-heads and takeovers, like the ones one can often experience in kart races.

The top contenders for the 2026 F1 World Championship

In our opinion, there are three main contenders for the title. Max Verstappen, the one who won the most races last year with his Red Bull and is the best driver in the circuit, at this very moment, and the two McLaren drivers, Lando Norris, who narrowly triumphed one month ago, and his Australian teammate, Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen

The Dutchman gave Norris a rush of blood to the head last year. At the end of the summer, the Brit driving the best car in F1 in 2025, the McLaren, was only worried by his teammate, with McLaren’s top brass eagerly waiting for their announced championship. But then Verstappen fought back with renewed determination, he exploited the tension inside McLaren to put together podium after podium and win after win. In the end, he fell just short, but his comeback was something amazing to experience and contributed to make 2025 season one to remember for F1 aficionados. Given how well he competed, Verstappen doesn’t see his second place as a failure and remains pretty proud of that achievement.

George Russell

Very close behind, with strong market belief in Mercedes’ edge under the new rules due to its rumored compression ratio trick, is George Russell.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

We put these two together because we don’t see a clear #1 in the McLaren paddock. Officially, Norris is driver 1 and Piastri his second, but their performances have been quite similar the whole season. They drive the best car in the circuit (or, at least, this was the case last year) and can count on a solid team, which feeds on wins and triumphs. However, neither Norris nor Piastri seem capable of keeping up with Verstappen, who is clearly the top dog right now.

A couple of underdogs ready to shock the world

However, there aren’t only these names among the ones to watch. Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his Mercedes have already shown how dangerous they can be, while Valtteri Bottas would like to shock the whole circus with an ambitious Cadillac team ready to debut this year.

Could we have missed someone? Of course we did. What about Ferrari? The team disappointed everyone last year but in Maranello they are already planning a comeback. After all, they have two of the best drivers around: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Some rumors say that they are already working on two different cars, before choosing the best one and proceed in its setup before the first Grand Prix in Australia, to arrive ready to rumble once the new season begins, later in March.

Here are the current leading odds (aggregated from sources like Sky Bet, Oddschecker, FanDuel, and bet365 as of early January 2026; odds are fractional/decimal equivalents and subject to change as testing and developments unfold):

– Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 5/2 (or +250) — Favorite, implying ~29% implied probability.
– George Russell (Mercedes): 11/4 (or ~+275 to +360 in some books) — Very close behind, with strong market belief in Mercedes’ edge under the new rules.
– Lando Norris (McLaren): 7/2 (or +350) — Defending champion but slipped behind due to the reset.
– Oscar Piastri (McLaren): 6/1 (or +490 to +700) — Solid contender but trailing his teammate in early pricing.
– Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): ~12/1 to 13/1 — Boosted by Adrian Newey’s influence and team potential.
– Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): ~10/1 to 14/1 — Rookie hype but tied to team performance.
– Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): ~22/1 — Longer odds reflecting less confidence in Ferrari’s reset.
– Lewis Hamilton (likely Ferrari or similar): ~33/1 — Further back amid team transitions.

These are early futures markets, so they carry high variance—pre-season testing (late January/February) will likely cause major shifts. Mercedes is often favored for the Constructors’ Championship (around 8/5), ahead of McLaren (13/8), suggesting bookies expect a strong package that could propel Russell (or Antonelli) to the title.

Odds can vary by bookmaker (e.g., FanDuel had Verstappen at +210 in late 2025), and responsible gambling applies—always check live markets on sites like Oddschecker, bet365, or DraftKings for the latest. The new regs make this one of the most unpredictable championships in years!