While many people are expecting the 2025 Formula 1 season to be one of the most closely fought contests in decades, there’s a conundrum hanging over every team right now.
Formula 1 is introducing new regulations in 2026 and the sport’s cost cap means that every team is walking a tightrope when it comes to developing this year’s car and starting work on a completely new machine for next year.
The teams expected to be at the front of the grid in 2025 know they can’t sacrifice this season as they have a brilliant chance of winning a championship.
Ferrari are expected to allow Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to race this year after team principal Frederic Vasseur proclaimed that this year’s car will be 99% different to their 2024 machine.
That suggests that the Scuderia are in no rush to concentrate efforts on 2026, while McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes will be in a similar position.
Red Bull may not be able to afford to concentrate on 2026 just yet, as they know they need to keep Max Verstappen happy to fend off interest from rival teams.
However, a report from Autoracer has suggested that a trio of teams further down the grid are always shifting their focus away from 2025.
They believe that Sauber, Racing Bulls and Haas are potentially hoping to get a head start on their rivals going into next season after they all finished in the bottom four positions of last year’s constructors’ championship.
Racing Bulls, Sauber and Haas all using the majority of their resources on their 2026 cars
The report suggests that Sauber, Racing Bulls and Haas are ‘already immersed’ in working on the 2026 project.
It’s been suggested that sources close to all three teams believe that more than 50% of their internal resources are being concentrated on the next generation of Formula 1 cars.
They believe that all three teams are saving their wind tunnel allocations to exclusively run their 2026 cars from May onwards.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Sauber from team principal to 2026 Audi future
However, their plans have been scuppered slightly with the FIA announcing new rules on front wings from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.
This is likely to impact the development every team does between now and the start of the season, with some manufacturers having to take the cost cap into account to decide whether to build one wing that can last the whole season, or a second wing for when the rules change.
Williams could be the biggest 2025 winners from Sauber, Racing Bulls and Haas decision
There was a clear split in the championship last season between the top four teams and the bottom six constructors by the end of the campaign.
Aston Martin had aspirations to challenge for podiums but instead were dragged into a battle with some of the slowest cars on the grid after a year of poor in-season developments.
If you combined the points tally of the bottom six teams, they wouldn’t have come within 150 points of the next-lowest ranked team Mercedes.
READ MORE: All to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari and Toyota ties
Williams have said they would be willing to sacrifice 2025 to concentrate on the upcoming rule changes, but with their rivals potentially planning to do the same, they have an opportunity to really kick on over the next 12 months.
With Alex Albon and new signing Carlos Sainz in the car, they won’t want to waste their potential on a car that can’t compete and both drivers will have aspirations to regularly score points and even start to look even further up the grid.
