Ever wondered what would happen if the F1 teams had to make the Formula 1 cars look like their most iconic road cars?
You may not have ever wondered that, no. But I did. So here’s the answers, and some of them look AWESOME.
New regulations, new cars, new teams?
2026 sees the dawn of a new era in Formula 1 with the biggest change in technical regulations coming in to play that we’ve seen for decades. And as teams beging to tease us with pictures of their new liveries and mock launch cars, it got me wondering just what the new cars would look like.
And then I thought about the breadth of car manufacturers we now have fielding teams in F1. Of course we’ve got Ferrari, but alongside those old stalwarts, we’ve got McLaren and Mercedes. All those guys have been around the block for ever in F1.
But the newer teams like Alpine and Aston Martin are still finding their feet. Now add on to that the two new manufacturers entering in 2026 – Audi and Cadillac, and our selection of car maker involved in the sport has never been broader.
And how could I forget. Red Bull have partnered with Ford this season for their engines, and Honda are making powerplants too. So we’ve got quite the selection.
Make F1 cars great again
The 2026 cars are going to look great. Smaller proportions, narrower tyres, narrow wings. All that makes them look so much more racey than they were in the seasons gone by. So that’s a good result from the new technical regs.
But what if there was a way to make the F1 cars look even better? What if Mohammed Ben Sulayem decreed that all the F1 teams that are manufacturers must make their cars resemble some of their other road or race cars?
Stranger things have happened with MBS. So I decided to imagine what that could look like.
Let’s go.
Here’s the AMR-DB5. When thinking about the most iconic Astons cars to include in this, it had to be James Bond’s old DB5. Some of the more modern Vantages and Vanquishes were also worth considering, but the DB5 works perfectly with the F1 car design.
The big front wheel arches, the wire wheels, the chrome front bumper overlapped by a massive front splitter. It works.
If this is what Adrian Newey is cooking up then I’m all for it.
Here’s the Mercedes W-P1G. A slightly frankenstein-esque creation based on the W16 and the classic Red Pig touring car, one of Mercedes’ most iconic racers. The big front grill might not be the most aero efficient design, but the spotlights will definitely let the guy ahead know you’re coming.
I’ll be honest, the McLaren one was a bit of a struggle. First I tried to incorporate the iconic McLaren F1 road car in to the design, but I couldn’t get the shape to work. Then I found that the front end of a McLaren P1 worked much beter, plus the 5-spoke centrelock wheels from the incredible F1 LM set it off perfectly.
Alpine don’t have much choice when it comes to road or race cars. It was either the modern Alpine A110, the original, or the new A290 electric hot hatch. But I couldn’t base it on an electric car, this isn’t Formula E.
And as it turns out the front end of the A110R fits absolutely perfectly, and suits the pink colour scheme.
Here’s the Ferrari SF-La-Ferrari-40. Much like the McLaren this one wasn’t the easiest. To me, when people talk about iconic Ferraris the F40 is the first thing that springs to mind. But try as I might I couldn’t get the front end to work, so in the end I resorted to a LaFerrari front which worked great. And it’s still iconic – the LaFerrari signalled the dawn of a new age for the supercar manufacturer with their first hybrid hypercar.
But I wanted to keep some F40 in there somewhere, and that rear wing worked perfectly. Plus some super deep dish chrome versions of the LaFerrari wheels, and hey presto.
Cadillac have joined Formula 1. Who ever thought we’d see the day. Cadillac to me still means squidgy, soft, lazy V8 powered muscle cars. So that’s what we’ve got in this design.
Big front end. White walled tyres. Chrome rims. Rear tail fins and fenders. It screams Cadillac. If this was racing around COTA then I think the fans would pass out in excitement. I would.
Red Bull have partnered with Ford for the 2026 season to develop their powertrain. So I had a few cars to choose from in the Ford stable, but it had to be the Ferrari-beating and LeMans-conquering GT40 that featured in this F1 mashup.
That beautiful front end, those beautiful wheels, and a nod to the Gulf livery on the nosecone. Now this is something I’d pay to see on track.
And finally on to Audi. Another manufactuer with quite the choice of iconic race cars from years gone by. BTCC Audi A4s, DTM cars, LeMans cars, but for me it was the best rally car of them all – the Audi S1 Sport Quattro, the Group B monster – that had to feature.
And if it was going to be in this mashup it needed the massive ‘snow plow’ front bumper, the spotlights, the wheels and the rear wing to be included. So that’s what we’ve got.
I didn’t do VCARB, HAAS or Williams because they’re not car manufactures. Perhaps I could have done a Renault Clio Williams though for the Grove squad? And now HAAS are sponsored by Toyota, maybe that’s an option too. Maybe next time.
Which one’s your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.
