Thrills in store at the Fifa World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the Winter Olympics – plus Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry and the T20 Men’s and Women’s World Cups. At the end of the 2025 Formula 1 (F1) season, McLaren’s Lando Norris emerged as the world champion. While he is probably still basking in this achievement, much of the paddock is already looking ahead as 2026 will see a complete overhaul of technical regulations offering teams a proverbial clean slate.
In 2026, the length of the cars will be reduced by 20cm to 3.40m, while the width will be cut by 10cm to 1.90m. All of this to say that the next generation of cars will be lighter, narrower and shorter, resulting in more agility and encouraging more wheel-to-wheel racing. The new power units mark a major shift, with a 50-50 split between electric power and the internal combustion engine, and almost three times the previous electrical output.
Additionally, the Drag Reduction System (DRS) will be scrapped and replaced by a “manual override engine mode”, which will allow drivers to tap into extra electrical power for a longer burst. As with DRS, cars will have to be within one second of each other to deploy the manual override. To make next season even more interesting, a new team joins the grid.
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Cadillac, which will use Ferrari power units and gearboxes, will enter the highly exclusive sport, bringing back the familiar names of Valtteri Bottas and Checo Perez in the paddock. The excitement and uncertainty are palpable among drivers, engineers and fans alike. Everyone has a chance to start afresh and the teams that get it right soonest are likely to be dominant in the years to come.
Among the multitude of sporting events, the 2026 Commonwealth Games stands out as one to watch. The games will be hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 2 August and will feature a 10-sport programme, including six fully integrated para sports, hosted in four venues. The 11-day event, originally set to be hosted in the Australian state of Victoria, was relocated after organisers withdrew due to escalating costs.
As a result, the 2026 games have been scaled back, with the programme reduced by half, with the likes of cricket, hockey and rugby sevens being cut to limit financial and logistical demands. The sports included are: athletics, swimming, artistic gymnastics, 3×3 basketball, bowls, boxing, cycling, judo, netball and weightlifting. The para sport events include 3×3 wheelchair basketball, para athletics, para bowls, para cycling, para swimming and para powerlifting.
The 2026 games will see the largest para sport medal programme in the history of the games, with a record of 47 medal events in total. In 2022, South Africa brought back their lowest number of medals with a total of 27. Although there will be fewer sports for South Africans to boost their medal tally, the disciplines in which they usually excel remain, with a few new additions.
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