Was this the longest Formula 1 launch season in recent memory?
Quite possibly. If you start with the reveal of Audi's 'concept' livery (which turned out to be basically the same as the real thing, minus a few sponsor stickers) in November and finish at the three-team livery reveal on the eve of the second test in Bahrain, that's an 89-day period.
You might argue, too (as one member of our team does), that there's been no launch season in recent memory bereft of creativity quite like this one.
But enough of the negativity. Who put on the best show? We asked our F1 team to answer that question and rank every team's launch, taking into account any event(s) they put on, what was released to the media, what was produced for social media, and how spread out the timeline was.
We've employed the same methodology used in other ranking features, applying the F1 points system to each individual ranking and adding those scores together to produce our final order.
The panel: Edd Straw, Jon Noble, Scott Mitchell-Malm, Ben Anderson
11 Aston Martin
4 points
Live-stream issues were in keeping with the AMR26's late start to testing
JN: Could easily have bagged top spot with Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin and a spectacular stage show. But it was let down by poor organisation and weird planning at the event (Newey skipping press duties, blocking out phone cameras for media but not for guests) and a disastrous live stream (more baffling because it was pre-recorded) for what just turned out to be a fresh lick of green paint on a show car.
ES: Technical problems for a pre-recorded launch stream lays bare that this is a team that isn't operating at the level it wants.
SMM: Style over substance, which is the tag that this team really needs to shed to live up to the sum of its parts.
BA: CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
10 Williams
6 points
Revised launch plans and unrepresentative renders hurt Williams's ranking
BA: Car wasn't ready, so launched a livery that basically looked the same as before. Mercifully short at least.
SMM: The car we've seen least of, which could have been avoided even though it missed the Barcelona test if it just shared more shakedown imagery or even accurate renders.
ES: The lack of car combined with the livery launch car reveal and very little around it barely amounted to a launch at all.
JN: Events derailed by its absence from testing meant original launch plans were cancelled - so in the end a livery reveal and social media post of the new FW48 ended up being a bit low-key.
8= Audi
16 points
Why launch once if you can launch twice?
SMM: It sort of did the same launch two times - given the concept livery was the real thing - and didn't show the car off sufficiently, but at least it made lots of team people available to us.
ES: Very corporate, with a strangely lengthy period watching people ascending stairs, with no real car.
BA: Didn't launch the car, just relaunched a livery it already launched in 2025.
JN: Good effort in going for an all-out spectacular in Berlin. But having had a livery event at the end of 2025, it seemed slightly strange to do it all again just for some final sticker placements.
8= Racing Bulls
16 points
Spot the keyword in our team's verdicts
BA: Piggybacking the A-team's event was a much better idea than that Las Vegas nonsense of 2024 that no one could watch.
JN: The team deserved a lot more than almost appearing like an afterthought at the end of the stage show at a Red Bull launch that had been quite good up until that point.
SMM: Like the senior team's, just more of an afterthought.
ES: Scuderia Afterthought rode on the coattails of Red Bull Racing, with some painfully scripted banter falling flat.
7 Red Bull
30 points
Timing counted against the senior team
BA: Put on a proper show, before everyone else - and didn't try to fob us off claiming fake car pics were the real thing!
ES: Low expectations perhaps played into this, but at least it was focused on F1 even though there wasn't a representative car.
SMM: A nice enough launch event but was too early in the cycle to have much of value.
JN: Awkward timing and a lack of access to drivers and team personnel were not great, but launch was very informative about the new Red Bull Powertrains project.
6 Haas
36 points
Usurped from its usual 'first to reveal' spot
JN: Almost a cut-and-paste of Mercedes (spoiler alert!) in doing the job in an effective way.
BA: Got gazumped by Red Bull this year, otherwise nothing out of the ordinary - except those hilariously large front tyres!
SMM: Early-iteration renders, good access to key personnel, and a shakedown reveal just before Barcelona testing. Job done.
ES: Images released digitally before the car first ran, with remote media sessions between Barcelona and Bahrain, did the job.
5 McLaren
40 points
A big disparity in how the reigning champion team's staggered launch was received
ES: From a media perspective, this launch was spread over several weeks and culminated in a well-executed launch stream on Monday.
BA: The most needlessly overwrought of the lot, culminating in a livery reveal that contained no surprises. JUST GET ON WITH IT!
SMM: Splitting its launch material up to give multiple hits across such a drawn-out pre-season was much appreciated. Only loses marks for how long the real car was kept hidden!
JN: Elected for a four-pronged approach to the launch: a team boss and technical briefing; a test livery render release; a driver press conference; and then a final car launch. Each event was good in its own right, but it missed out on a standout moment.
4 Mercedes
53 points
No shying away from showing off the car
SMM: The two-part launch meant we got what we needed from a media perspective and even though its car reveal was pre-test, Mercedes wasn't shy about sharing on-track images from its shakedown the same day. Top stuff.
BA: Run of the mill. But at least we got to see the real car at the shakedown on the same day.
JN: A quite simple launch of renders before the Barcelona test, and then a proper event and chats with drivers and team when it was relevant - after the car had run. Did its job brilliantly.
ES: A well put-together launch stream, the real car and the opportunity to speak to Toto Wolff and the drivers added up to a solid effort.
2= Cadillac
54 points
F1's new team made its mark
ES: While of limited value to much of F1's existing audience, taking a prime ad slot during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl at vast expense was at least an F1 first, even if the team has done disappointingly little to tell the story of its build-up over the past few months.
BA: The highest this team will finish all season, thanks to a genuine F1 first.
JN: A unique way of launching its new livery with a Super Bowl advert, but poor timing for Europe meant it lacked bite and impact on this side of the pond.
SMM: Had a statement livery launch, and shared images from its early shakedown, but strange for a new team not to make key personnel and drivers available to tell its story.
2= Alpine
54 points
F1 2026's one proper launch 'event'
JN: Almost everything a car launch should be: a spectacular standout event (on a cruise ship), a livery reveal, and plenty of access to drivers and team staff. Only thing that stopped it being perfect was Alpine didn't have its real A526.
SMM: Gets points for a real, in-person launch event but not even having renders of the car pulls it down the list.
ES: The physical event on the MSC World Europa cruise ship had an old-school vibe, but sadly without a real car. Personally, I enjoyed it because I got to have a look around a cruise ship, but it didn't have the same impact for the vast majority who weren't there.
BA: Not a real car, but the most bonkers (proper) event. Back to the old-school.
1 Ferrari
93 points
Tried and tested wins again
BA: World champion of F1 launches. It's something, I guess...
JN: Big kudos for launching a real car in its now-traditional Fiorano reveal.
SMM: Real car running on track that diehard fans can get to, no noise or fuss, decent imagery and senior people talking all in one (even though they didn't let much of value slip) - this is still the benchmark for satisfying fan and media demand.
ES: Tops the list in the worst launch season for a long time simply by dint of it happening before the first test, with a real car that also ran on track.
