![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alonso-McLaren-Honda-Stats.png\")
<\/p>\nThere\u2019s nothing worse for an F1 driver than starting a new season in trouble and several of the best are going into 2026 with some big issues to resolve.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s battling the blatant woes of a team in crisis, high expectations just not being met, or a more existential dilemma like a career at a crossroads, the competitive reality of F1 can\u2019t be denied for long.<\/p>\n
New rules and a new season wipe the slate clean in a way but they also bring a lot of new challenges and revive old worries \u2013 even for some of F1\u2019s top drivers. <\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something cruelly ironic about the possibility that the end of Alonso\u2019s F1 career could be undermined by the same core factor that set him back more than a decade ago: Honda.<\/p>\n
After spending two decades waiting for the chance to drive an Adrian Newey-designed car, Alonso heads into 2026 not even certain he\u2019ll have a realistic shot at finishing the first race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The package looks compromised, short on performance and carrying reliability concerns, and at best he begins the year hoping for a rapid rate of development simply to reach midfield competitiveness.<\/p>\n
The grand ambitions he once held for this project now hang by a thread. There is a very real risk that his faith in the project and the final truly competitive years of his F1 life are eroded by Honda\u2019s struggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given how painfully his McLaren reunion unfolded in 2015, that would represent a bitter final twist.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All Alonso can hope for is a silver lining later in the season, or perhaps momentum to carry into 2027 \u2013\u00a0if he stays.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s little doubt he enters 2026 facing one of the most challenging campaigns of his career. That will surely test his patience and it could get fiery depending on how candid Alonso chooses to be.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no driver who has more at stake in F1 this year than Lewis Hamilton. He may be under contract for 2027, but after a dire first year with Ferrari the 41-year-old needs to turn things around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Race engineer Riccardo Adami has been replaced on an interim basis by Carlo Santi, which makes for what Hamilton calls a “difficult period”.<\/a><\/p>\n Even more important is how he adapts to the new cars. Early on in the Bahrain test, he looked significantly less comfortable than Charles Leclerc. However, that improved dramatically as the six days of running in Bahrain progressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n While it\u2019s impossible to evaluate conclusively where he stands compared to Leclerc, Hamilton is certainly happier with the 2026 cars than he was with the previous generation of stiff cars. On top of that, he described himself as more connected to it, given the role he played in developing it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a car I\u2019ve been part of developing on the simulator,” Hamilton said.<\/p>\n “A bit of my DNA is within it, so I\u2019m more connected to it.\u201d<\/p>\n The improved responsiveness of the car on turn-in and the wider mechanical set-up windows means there are promising signs that Hamilton will be able to get the car in a better window for him on corner entry. He was visibly experimenting with that early in testing, and refined that approach as the Ferrari improved.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Ferrari in good shape heading into the season, even if it appears to be a step behind Mercedes, Hamilton should have a more competitive car than 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the key challenge is whether he\u2019s able to dial into it well enough to do his best work behind the wheel and match or, as he will be aiming to, get ahead of Leclerc.<\/p>\n If the first part of this season seems too much like last year, expect there to be plenty of questions about his future from the outside world and, most importantly, in Hamilton\u2019s own mind.<\/p>\n Carlos Sainz<\/p>\n Carlos Sainz\u2019s decision to join Williams last year, rather than Sauber ahead of its Audi transformation or Alpine ahead of its 2026 switch to Mercedes engines, looked inspired in 2025. That choice might look very different this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Testing suggests that both teams will start the year ahead of Williams, which missed the first test in Barcelona and has a car that\u2019s overweight and lacks the poise of its rivals on track.<\/p>\n As Sainz says, it has exposed how much ground Williams still needs to make up on F1\u2019s top teams – and he makes this list over team-mate Alex Albon because Sainz picked Williams for his post-Ferrari career, so he\u2019s the one with a recent choice that could backfire.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams is behind most of its midfield rivals. Haas, Alpine, Racing Bulls and Audi have all done a better job so far. It will improve, but it could be a tough start to the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n The weight reduction project<\/a> will take time to get the car not just down to the weight limit, but under it where ballast can be used to optimise the weight distribution. There are signs that a high-rake design approach is causing some problems getting into the right set-up window.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sainz himself has integrated well with Williams and excelled in the second half of last year, so that\u2019s not the problem. The question is whether Williams has put itself on the back foot not just for 2026, but even beyond that.\u00a0<\/p>\n If it has, that will be a big problem for Sainz. We\u2019ll get a big clue how bad it is in Australia.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri<\/p>\n Having narrowly missed out on the world championship in 2025, Oscar Piastri would have wanted an immediate opportunity to put that right in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n That places him among the drivers carrying the highest expectations on the grid, but they won\u2019t immediately be met.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Teams--best-times---Bahrain-test-2.png\")
<\/p>\n