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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n And who knows? There may be a significant number of fans and enthusiasts ready to bet on an underdog, since last year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The top contenders for the 2026 F1 World Championship<\/p>\n \u00a0In 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.<\/p>\n Max Verstappen<\/p>\n \u00a0The 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\u2019s 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\u2019t see his second place as a failure<\/a> and remains pretty proud of that achievement.<\/p>\n George Russell<\/p>\n Very close behind, with strong market belief in Mercedes\u2019 edge under the new rules due to its rumored compression ratio trick, is George Russell.<\/p>\n Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri<\/p>\n \u00a0We put these two together because we don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n A couple of underdogs ready to shock the world<\/p>\n However, there aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n