FIA forced to make F1 qualifying change for 2026

Photo: © IMAGO

Latest F1 News

FIA forced to make F1 qualifying change for 2026

There will be 22 drivers on the grid in 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 6 January 2026 08:27

The FIA have been forced into a qualifying rule change for the 2026 F1 season.

2026 is already seeing a plethora of regulation changes sweeping into the sport, with teams having to adapt to both power unit changes and aerodynamic design changes.

On top of this, there will be a couple of new names on the grid, with the Audi Revolut F1 team taking over from Sauber, and Cadillac F1 joining as the 11th team on the grid, the first time F1 has had more than 10 teams since 2016.

Article continues under video

Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will make up the driver lineup for the Cadillac team, and they will be the 21st and 22nd entries on the F1 grid, meaning the FIA have now had to make some changes to the structure of F1 qualifying.

For several years, the format for grand prix qualifying has remained the same, with five drivers being eliminated from Q1, five drivers from Q2, before a shootout between the 10 remaining drivers for pole position.

However, the arrival of two more drivers in 2026 means that format has had to be tweaked, with the FIA Sporting Regulations confirming that, while there will still be three sessions - Q1, Q2 and Q3 - there will be six drivers being eliminated from the first two sessions.

That means that there will still be 10 drivers left in Q3, rather than opening up that session to allow more drivers the opportunity to fight for pole.

The rule change follows another tweak that the FIA announced last week surrounding red flag delays during qualifying sessions.

How will F1 Qualifying work in 2026?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

From 2026, the drivers with the six slowest times in the 18-minute Q1 session will be eliminated, before a seven-minute break between sessions will ensue.

Then, a 15-minute Q2 session will see six more drivers eliminated from qualifying, ultimately leaving the 10 drivers who will battle it out for pole position over a 12-minute Q3.

Qualifying determines the complete starting grid for Sunday's main grand prix, and normally takes almost exactly an hour to complete barring any delays.

These new 2026 rules will not affect the length of any of the sessions, just how many drivers are being eliminated due to the addition of Cadillac as a new team for 2026.

F1 HEADLINES: Christian Horner contact revealed as team ‘swoop' for axed star

F1 Cadillac