F1 in 2026: Key dates, new title hopefuls and Cadillac's debut

Say goodbye to DRS, and hello to an electrical power boost.

Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the last time Formula 1 uses the Drag Reduction System overtaking aid, introduced in 2011. Next year, drivers will have to manage the car's systems more closely than ever with a more visible role for aerodynamic and electrical technology.

After a season-long title battle ended with Lando Norris' first title, here's what to expect in 2026:

The biggest regulation changes in years make cars shorter, narrower and lighter, with movable “active aerodynamics” — X-mode for straight-line speed, Z-mode for cornering — and more reliance on electric hybrid power.

The FIA's target was for electrical power to make up half of total output along with a traditional V6 turbo engine. Instead of DRS, drivers can deploy extra electrical power at key moments. That makes driving even more strategic but could lead to drivers lifting off the power and coasting on some straights to allow the electrical systems to harvest energy.

The FIA claims the rules emphasize driver skill but there have been mixed reviews from those who've tried 2026 designs in their teams' simulators.

Smaller, more agile cars could help overtaking but the fastest and slowest cars may be up to four seconds per lap apart on pace, tire supplier Pirelli has reported. In F1 terms, that's an eternity. Expect to see more engine failures as teams balance reliability with performance.

Could this be the year Lewis Hamilton finds his form again at Ferrari and chases an eighth title? Maybe not.

Even though he never got on with the 2022-25 cars, Hamilton told the BBC he was “not looking forward” to 2026 after the Las Vegas Grand Prix last month, yet another disappointment since he joined Ferrari.

Mercedes has designed some of F1's most dominant engines before, but its eye-catching “zero-pod” aerodynamic concept was a bust when the last regulation period began in 2022. Get both aspects right this time and George Russell could be a title contender after two wins in 2025. Mercedes also supplies engines to McLaren and Alpine.

Another team to watch is Aston Martin, which has its first car created with design great Adrian Newey in charge, now with Honda power, and is hoping it can make two-time champion Fernando Alonso an F1 race winner for the first time in 13 years. Williams too could make a step forward after abandoning its 2025 projects early to focus on 2026.

The F1 grid expands to 22 cars for the first time since 2016 as Cadillac becomes the 11th team with backing from General Motors.

The newest team will have two of the most experienced drivers as Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez return, with a combined 16 wins and 527 starts between them.

The American team has been taking lessons from NASA space programs and has a British boss who compares himself to an “inverse Ted Lasso” for the culture shock of working in U.S. auto racing.

British 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad will be the only rookie in 2026 at Racing Bulls. Eight of 10 existing teams have played it safe with the same driver lineup so the only other change is Isack Hadjar moving up to Red Bull to join Verstappen. Yuki Tsunoda drops into a reserve role.

The Madring is the one new circuit on the 2026 calendar. The Madrid street circuit takes over the Spanish Grand Prix title from Barcelona, which stays on the calendar as Spain gets a second race for the first time since 2012.

That means no space for Italy's second F1, the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit, which has held five races since 2020.

The season's over but there's one more day of driving left in 2025. Tuesday sees a single day of testing in Abu Dhabi with teams using modified “mule” cars to try out next year's tires, along with F1's usual test day for young drivers.

After 2025's red-carpet season launch show in London, the start of the 2026 season will be low-key.

The new cars hit the track for the first time at a private test in Spain starting Jan. 26.

There are two more open testing sessions in Bahrain in February before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 8.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates after becoming a world champion after the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Crowd erupts as McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain reacts on the podium after becoming the Formula One world champion following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, as the sun sets behind the track. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton distanced himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in closed-door depositions with lawmakers, according to videos that were released Monday by a House committee.

The recordings of the depositions, which spanned hours over two days last week, show how Bill Clinton told the committee that he had ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier entered a 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. Hillary Clinton told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein.

Both closed-door interviews before the House Oversight Committee were taken under oath Thursday and Friday.

The Clintons' testimony came as lawmakers are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls. High-status men around the world have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their relationships with Epstein, but so far there are few signs in the U.S. of serious legal consequences coming.

The former Democratic president said he first remembered meeting Epstein when he flew aboard the financier's private jet in 2002 for the Clintons' humanitarian work, and they parted ways the year after.

“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” he told the committee.

Epstein visited the White House numerous times during Clinton’s presidency and there are photos of them shaking hands. Clinton told lawmakers he did not recall those interactions.

Bill Clinton faced searching questions both from Republicans and Democrats about photos of the former president that have been released as part of the case files on Epstein. In response to a Democratic lawmakers' questions about a photo that showed him in a pool with a woman whose face was redacted, the former president said he did not know the woman and did not engage in sexual activity with her.

He said the photo was from a trip to Brunei for charitable work and a number of people in their travel party were swimming.

Whether the subject was a note Clinton wrote for Epstein's 50th birthday or their travel together for the Clinton Foundation, he described their relationship as little more than “cordial.”

“We were friendly, but I didn’t know him well enough to say we were friends,” he said.

Asked by Republicans whether they had talked about young women or girls together, Clinton responded emphatically: “No.”

One line of questioning stirred up curiosity from lawmakers, and that was what Clinton had to say about President Donald Trump. He made clear he believed it was important for anyone, including presidents, to come forward and testify to their knowledge of Epstein.

Clinton also shared how he and Trump had briefly discussed Epstein at a charity golf tournament more than 20 years ago. He said Trump had never “said anything to me to make me think he was involved in anything improper with regard to Epstein,” but also remarked that those two men had a falling-out over a real estate deal.

Republican lawmakers left the deposition pointing to Clinton's words and arguing that it showed there is no evidence that Trump ever did anything wrong in his own relationship with Epstein.

Democrats, meanwhile, said Clinton's testimony counters what Trump has said more recently about why he and Epstein had a falling-out. Trump has told reporters they had a disagreement because Epstein had hired people away from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, after testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks outside the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center where former President Bill Clinton was testifying before U.S. House lawmakers as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

FILE - President Clinton makes a statement as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on at the White House, Dec. 19, 1998 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)