Our verdict on the best and worst races of F1 2026 so far

The 2026 Formula 1 season has delivered a real mix of races so far, eliciting plenty of positive and negative reactions.

But which have been the best and worst? Here's what our team thinks.

Jon Noble: You can divide the good and bad events this season into those where the cars are energy-rich and those where they are energy-starved.

The best, I would say, was the Barcelona Grand Prix. Energy management was not really a headache there and it was a weekend that came down to those more regular topics of aero, tyre management, driver execution and strategy.

And it delivered an absolute blinder of a race. Whenever the best strategy choice is marginal and teams are divided, the racing is better - so Lewis Hamilton's aggressive three-stopper versus Mercedes' two-stop plan was a joy to watch.

In terms of the worst, the early-season races before F1 got in place some better battery rules were not great.

But if I reflect on moments that really got me down, I’d have to pick the British GP - and it had nothing to do with the fact that a potentially thrilling finish was derailed by the safety car confusion at the end.

Instead, after a run of races from Miami onwards that had been great, the horrible mix of energy starvation on a high-speed track exposed all that was wrong with these current rules.

To see Lewis Hamilton pull off a brilliant overtake around the outside of George Russell at Copse, defend robustly wheel-to-wheel into Maggotts, only for them to switch position back on the Hangar Straight thanks to a button press on the Mercedes showed the folly of passing in 2026.

Why bother racing hard and risking anything to pull off a great overtake if your rival is going to get you back without doing anything special?

What do YOU think have been the best and worst races of F1 2026 so far? If you're in The Race Members' Club, let us know YOUR verdict in the comments on this post and we'll debate them in a special exclusive members-only mini-podcast

Gary Anderson: I would have to say that Hungary was one of the best: the teams seem to have got on top of maximising the performance from these new-for-2026 cars. However, we need to remember that Hungary is one of the best circuits on the calendar as far as deployment and harvesting is concerned - there's still more room for improvement, but very soon most teams will be diverting their efforts into next season.

The worst was probably Suzuka; harvesting just doesn't exist around there. At the front it was a series of tit-for-tat overtakes which in reality had nothing to do with driver skills or bravery. We have had a few races like that, but I think this stood out as blatantly the worst, so I'm not looking forward to Monza.

Jack Benyon: If I take my disdain for how most of the most spectacular moments this year have been caused by silly battery recharge and deployment happenings, Canada has to go down as my favourite race.

It wasn’t quite clear at that point that Kimi Antonelli was going to push on in the way he has, asserting dominance in the Mercedes team, and the wheel-to-wheel battle felt proper until a mechanical issue for Russell intervened.

The worst races, take your pick: Spa, Suzuka, any of the ones where the drivers are just super clipping their way around the track and overtaking happens mostly by accident rather than because of any great skill.

Edd Straw: The Canadian GP stands out, with Russell and Antonelli going at it hard until the former was eliminated by a battery problem.

It was a classic duel, with two title protagonists battling and the difficulty keeping the tyres in the window, which often meant the driver ahead was more prone to errors, adding a fascinating extra dimension. That will make it genuinely memorable, with the only disappointment that Russell didn't make it to half distance.

Japan sticks in my memory as the worst. While Monaco, inevitably, lacked overtaking that's what's expected of Monaco - but Suzuka was a race that showcased the power units at their worst.

It was also a race that was simplified by the timing of the safety car, making it doubly disappointing for a race on arguably the best circuit on the calendar. 

Val Khorounzhiy: Suzuka was really rough - as it tends to be regardless of the ruleset these days - and Monaco was Monaco. It is what it is.

Beyond that, I think I've generally liked all the races, though probably not 'loved' any of them. But I don't think that's the fault of the 2026 regs so much as happenstance.

F1 has had the ingredients several times for some proper grandstand finishes, but had them snatched away by reliability interference (on the Mercedes side primarily) or that restart situation at Silverstone, which even with that conclusion has probably been the standout of the season so far.

Oliver Card: The heartbreaking truth is that the current era is capable of robbing the 'classic' tracks of their wow factor. Spa and Suzuka felt hugely underwhelming but, fortunately, the British GP shone through as a glimmer of hope that heritage circuits can still offer compelling racing. 

Despite the concluding shenanigans leading to an anti-climactic finish, Silverstone proved to be a thoroughly engaging race. It was at times unpredictable thanks to varied strategic approaches up and down the grid, with entertaining track action and a heightened emotional charge, thanks to the aforementioned Antonelli's dogged determination to finish, alongside Charles Leclerc finally ending his winless streak to take a much-needed victory for Ferrari.

Josh Suttill: The best and worst races took place back-to-back to round out the half-season for me with Belgium (the worst) and Hungary (the best).

Spa with these cars was so poor it left me wishing we could 'rest' these classic venues such as Spa, Suzuka and Silverstone until the next regulation cycle.

But just as I was losing faith in the racing product, Hungary delivered a really good weekend. It had probably had a tenth of the overtaking that Spa produced, but the quality was far higher that moves like Max Verstappen's brilliant pass on Hamilton at Turn 1 will stick in my mind for a long time and help numb the memory of endless drive-bys on the Kemmel Straight.