McLaren is coming off a dominant 2025 season.
Winning the Constructors’ Championship with six races to go; the team’s second championship in as many years.
Going into the new season, McLaren is less confident in dominating the field.
Regulation changes are leaving teams and analysts wondering who will come out on top in Australia, with many speculating it will be a Mercedes or Ferrari.
McLaren is not expected to be the fastest car on track but the team is confident they will remain in the top four. Good drivers paired with consistent car development, team leadership foresee being back to the front of the grid soon.
“It’s a long season with a lot of development,” Zak Brown, Chief Executive of McLaren Racing, said in Bahrain during preseason testing.
Oscar Piastri, nine-time racewinner, agrees with Brown that the car is not ready to win a race.
“I wouldn’t say we’re leading the pack by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like we’re not too bad,” the Australian said after preseason testing concluded.
Lando Norris, reigning World Champion, is also realistic about where the team is at. He doesn’t believe they will be at the front at the season-opener but believes in his team.
“Developments will come quickly, so patience is key,” Norris said about going into the 2026 season.
Norris got 149 laps in during the second day of testing at Bahrain and is feeling more connected to the car. In the regulation era succeeding in a race will come down to the driver's ability to manage everything from inside the car.
“I feel like if I went to a race now I’d have a pretty good understanding of everything I need to do along the way,” Norris said.
Norris is coming into the season off his maiden championship win.
He’s feeling more confident and has kept the goal of winning races and another championship for the team in the 2026 season.
“Of course, the goal is exactly the same, but it never gets easier,” Norris told F1TV.
To win another championship Norris knows he has to beat legends the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in a regulation which will be characterized by constant developments.
“When you are fighting these guys you need to be close to perfection,” said Norris at the McLaren Technology Center. “There are plenty of things I want to work on and I want to be better on.”
Piastri narrowly missed out on the Drivers’ title last season. Going into 2026 he is focused on the positives that came out of 2025.
“I feel like I really took a good step forward and those lessons I can take forward into whatever rules we get, so I’m excited,” Piastri said.
During his three seasons in Formula 1 Piastri went from fighting for points to fighting for a championship. The Australian’s fight for the championship was not always clean or polished.
As his results got worse people questioned what was going on in his head.
“The areas I was most pleased with were the way I went about racing – my mindset and my mentality – and how those stood up to the test,” Piastri said at the McLaren Technology Center.
The 2026 season will be taxing on the drivers and teams both physically and mentally as they adjust to a regulation change. This will be the first regulation change Piastri has experienced while on the grid.
Pedro Matos, Piastri’s Formula 2 race engineer, and Emma Murray, his mental performance coach, will be attending more races in the 2026 season while Mark Webber steps back to focus on commercial matters.
McLaren is hoping to win a third consecutive Constructors’ Championship while Norris and Piastri hope to battle for the Drivers’ title.
Norris is confident and Piastri is excited. Both are ready to get racing again in Melbourne on March 8.
An hour before the match, players customize their setups: keyboards, mice, headsets, mats, and chairs.
Hand warmers are passed around and compression sleeves slipped on. Video is reviewed, rounds played and strategy discussed.
Before the match starts, each member adorns a jersey with their gamer tag across the back. With a play called by Wisam Elmogaber, Ohio State’s Valorant team begins its match against Maryville.
One of Ohio State’s most successful competitive teams lives not in an athletic facility but rather in Lincoln Tower, where the esports team brings home numerous trophies and accolades for performances across the Big Ten and beyond. Many do not define them as athletes, but that definition seems to be changing based on the competitive nature of non-traditional sports.
“Being called an athlete is, of course, a great honor, but it’s not necessary.” Ohio State University Esports Manager, Dr. John Price said.
The definition of an athlete is quickly evolving. Arguments against esports players as athletes include the lack of gross motor movement and competitors completing movement through an avatar, according to Dr. Seth Jenny, associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
“A lot of people look at somebody who’s sitting in a chair playing esports as not an athlete because they’re not doing a lot of physical activity,” Jenny said.
Of course not all sports look the same. The debate around esports has called into question other athletes' titles.
Rifle, pistol and archery are all Olympic sports but include little gross motor movements. Autoracing and equestrian rely on another entity–be it car or horse–to compete.
The landscape and perception of esports competitors, however, is a relatively new phenomenon.
“They don’t have the tradition of being in the Olympics, and it’s a new developing activity,” said Dr. Jenny.
That is leading some to recognize esports competitors as athletes, including Boise State, which moved esports under its athletic department. The United States has allowed foreign esport competitors to compete with the P-1 athlete visa, and the International Olympic Committee will hold the inaugural Olympic Esports Games in 2027.
“Usually it’s just people who aren’t familiar with high-level gaming and the skill involved in it that necessarily believe it’s not a sport,” Jenny said.
To reach a high skill level, training is crucial to esports competitors. Ohio State’s premier teams train at least three days a week, focusing on video reviews and analysis, mechanical skills and scrimmages.
As an example, football and basketball follow a similar training structure.
Training does differ between titles, Price said. “Valorant” and “League of Legends” focus on experimenting with strategies and new in-game tools, whereas “Super Smash Brothers” relies on video review and one-on-one coaching.
Passion, energy, and dedication can be seen throughout the esports fanbase. There are watch parties planned for the “League of Legends” World Championships and competitions are broadcast and watched by hundreds of thousands. Esports are sponsored by companies like Monster Energy and Red Bull.
“You still see the elements of fandom that exist because you recognize that same passion from the communities.” Price said.
Based on esports having a strong fanbase, high-level competitors, and a robust training schedule, they seem to fit much of the criteria of athletes. Esport players, however, aren’t worried about their title; they want recognition for the skill it takes for them to compete at such a high level.
“I don’t find it as important having to be called an athlete, it’s more of that they’re competitors and they’re recognized for the hard work they put into it, the skill,” Price said.
Scuderia Ferrari was founded in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari. By 1947 Ferrari was building its own cars to compete on an amateur level.
Since the Formula 1 Championship was established in 1950 Ferrari has been the only team to compete in all 75 seasons.
Ferrari has seen success throughout its 75 years in Formula 1.
“At Ferrari the most beautiful victory is always the next one,” Enzo Ferrari told reporters at Monza in 1986.
1950s:
Scuderia Ferrari debuted on the world stage at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 21, 1950. Alberto Ascari finished second while driving a 125 F1.
Ferrari won its first race the next season in Great Britain with José Frolián González behind the wheel.
This was the start of Ferrari’s dynasty of success.
1953 and 1954 saw the Prancing Horse dominate race victories. Ascari took home the championship in back-to-back seasons.
After a change in regulation Ferrari struggled to find pace until Juan Manuel Fangio joined the team in 1956. Fangio secured the championship before returning to Maserati.
The Constructors’ Championship was established in 1958. Ferrari failed to win the title the first season, but Mike Hawthorn claimed the Drivers’ Championship.
1960s:
Ferrari debuted its rear-engine car, the 246 P F1, in 1960.
1961 saw Ferrari return to championship form. Phil Hill won the Drivers’ title and the team won the Constructors’ Championship for the first time.
The team faced change and turmoil throughout the next two years with personnel turnovers and slow technological development.
A slower car, but higher reliability brought Ferrari and John Surtees the championships in 1964.
The rest of the decade was marred by Ferrari’s decreasing form and continuous personnel changes.
Enzo Ferrari sold part of his road car business and put the money back into the struggling racing team.
1970s:
The Prancing Horses had a stronger 1970 season with four wins and Jacky Ickx finishing second in the championship.
The next three seasons were increasingly disastrous with Ferrari finishing sixth in the Constructors’ Championship in 1973.
1974 saw the Scuderia return to form with the signing of Niki Lauda and the development of the 312 B3-74. Clay Regazzoni and the team both narrowly missed out on winning the championships due to the lack of reliability in the car.
Ferrari was back to top form in 1975 taking the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles thanks to the newly designed 312 T. Lauda and Regazzoni were involved in the design process and the team produced a fast and reliable car.
Maintaining his form, Lauda was successful in the first half of the 1976 season until a crash at the German Grand Prix. Although Lauda had a quick return to racing, he lost out on the Drivers’ title to James Hunt. Ferrari took home the Constructors’ Championship again in 1976.
Despite winning another title in 1977 with Ferrari, Lauda left at the end of the season for Brabham. Ferrari continued its streak by winning a third Constructors’ title in a row.
1978 was characterized by wins for the team, but the 312 T3 was outraced by the Lotus.
The last season of the decade was a successful one with Jody Scheckter winning the Drivers’ title and Ferrari taking home the Constructors’ trophy.
Ferrari would not win another Drivers’ Championship for the next two decades.
1980s:
Ferrari failed to win a title in the first two seasons of the decade. 1981 was characterized by the new turbocharged engine.
The 126 C was a powerful car and had the best balance between reliability and speed on the grid. The team won the Constructors’ title in the 1982 season. After the death of Gilles Villeneuve and injury of Didier Pironi, the team failed to win the Drivers’ title.
The team won the Constructors’ Championship again in 1983, but once again missed out on the Drivers’.
Ferrari failed to challenge the McLarens the next season, but challenged Alain Prost for the title in 1985 before losing form in the second half of the season.
The team’s lack of form continued until the end of the 1987 season when Gerhard Berger won two races.
McLaren continued to dominate in 1988 and Ferrari finished second in the Constructor standings.
Enzo Ferrari died on August 14, 1988 leaving his share to his son Piero Ferrari.
After years of lobbying the FIA, even going so far as to build an IndyCar, the regulations were changed and the era of turbocharged engines ended. With the regulation changes John Barnard, technical director, created a semi-automatic, paddle-operated gearbox.
In the 1989 season the car was extremely unreliable; however, Nigel Mansell secured multiple wins for the team.
1990s:
The 1990 season saw the arrival of Alain Prost to Ferrari. Despite a hard-fought battle and a controversial crash, Prost lost the championship to Ayrton Senna.
Ferrari saw a shift in form in 1991 when teams transitioned to the lighter V10 engines compared to Ferrari’s V12.
The team failed to win a race until the German Grand Prix in 1994. Fuel consumption and reliability issues still plagued the Prancing Horses throughout the 1995 season.
Michael Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 along with members of Benetton’s technical staff. Reliability issues continued, but Schumacher won three races during the 1996 season after Ferrari switched to a V10 engine.
The 1997 season almost saw Ferrari at the top again, but after the dramatic season finisher at Jerez saw Schumacher disqualified, Ferrari finished second in the standings.
With new regulations the next season Ferrari had a competitive car with the F300. Schumacher won six races, but once again failed to win either title.
Ferrari returned to its former glory in 1999 by winning the Constructors’ Championship for the first time in over a decade. Due to a crash at Silverstone, Schumacher was out of contention for the Drivers’ title and Eddie Irvine finished second in the standings.
2000s:
Schumacher’s years of wins at Ferrari finally culminated in a Drivers’ Championship in 2000. It was the first Drivers’ title taken by a Ferrari driver since 1979. The Prancing Horses also won the Constructors’ title.
The next two seasons Ferrari dominated with Schumacher and the team acquiring two more consecutive championships. Ferrari won 24 of 34 races between the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
The 2003 season saw competitiveness return to the grid with McLaren taking an early lead in the championship. The titles came down to the final race, and in the end Schumacher and Ferrari both held the championships.
Schumacher and Ferrari began dominating again the next season and easily wrapped up both championships early. It was Schumacher’s seventh championship and Ferrari’s 14th.
2005 saw Ferrari’s pace and reliability fall off compared to the rest of the grid. Ferrari walked away from the season with only one win.
Schumacher’s last year on the grid was 2006. Ferrari had rediscovered its form with the new 248 F1, but fell short of reaching either title.
The next season was the first without Schumacher in a Ferrari since 1996. His replacement, Kimi Räikkönen, not only won on his Ferrari debut, but also won the Drivers’ Championship.
2007 was a season marred by espionage controversy and trials. However, Ferrari ended the season with another Constructors’ title.
The F2008 was a strong car during the next season and brought Ferrari another championship, despite neither driver winning the Drivers’ title. It was the last title Ferrari has won.
The 2009 season was another disappointing one for the Prancing Horses with only one recorded win.
2010s:
The start of the decade saw Fernando Alonso narrowly miss out on the Drivers’ title.
The next four seasons saw Ferrari consistently out of the fight for a title. 2013 was Ferrari’s first season without a win since 1993.
When Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2015 he broke Ferrari’s 34-race streak without any wins. Mercedes dominated the season, but Ferrari finished second in the standings.
After a disappointing 2016 season, Ferrari was able to compete with the powerful Mercedes in 2017. After Vettel won the first race of the season it was the first time a Ferrari driver had led the championship since 2012. Despite strong outings, Ferrari failed to win either title that season.
2018 was another season where despite having a strong car, Ferrari and Vettel were outpaced by Mercedes.
Charles Leclerc joined the team for the next season. Leclerc and Vettel won three races in 2019, marking the last Ferrari race win for over a year.
2020s:
The Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020 marked Ferrari’s 1,000th Grand Prix. It was a year that ended with them sixth in the standings.
2021 was another winless year with the SF21 finishing third in the championship.
When Leclerc won in Bahrain in 2022 it ended the team’s 45-race winless streak. Although Ferrari had a strong start to the 2022 season, it ended with second in both standings.
2023 was a season characterized by Red Bull domination; however, Carlos Sainz secured Ferrari’s only win of the season in Singapore.
Ferrari had good pace during the 2024 season and walked away with five wins. The team narrowly missed out on the Constructors’ title, ending the season in second.
The 2025 season was another tough one for the Prancing Horses. It was a winless season with a fourth-place finish in the standings.
With the 2026 season opener quickly approaching many people wonder how Ferrari will fare with new regulations. The tifosi hope to add a 17th Constructors’ Championship and bring back the trophy to Maranello that has been gone for almost two decades.
Lewis Hamilton has said he feels “the winning mentality in every single person in the team more than ever.”
Ranging from eating the same meal, wearing the same clothes, athletes across sports have superstitions.
According to a study by Michaéla C. Schippers and Paul A.M. van Lange, athletes use rituals and superstitions in situations where athletes may feel they need control. They also found that superstitions and rituals reduce tension before an event.
Throughout the history of Formula 1, there have been many superstitions and rituals. Some are more popular and widely accepted than others.
From the beginning of Formula 1 there were superstitions.
Alberto Ascari, two-time world champion, had several superstitions, but his most notable was his lucky blue helmet. He would always race with the same blue helmet and wouldn’t let anyone touch the case it was carried in. When he was the victim of a fatal testing crash at Monza in 1955 he wasn’t wearing his blue helmet, but a white one borrowed from Eugenio Castellotti.
Several driver superstitions are rooted in religion.
Sergio Perez kept a photo of Pope John Paul II in his cockpit. “He’s someone who I really trust and feel is on my side all the time. I feel having him in my car is very important; he gives me extra strength,” Perez said.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was known for keeping a St. Christopher’s medal tied into his shoes during race weekends. St. Christopher is the patron saint of transportation, traveling and athletics.
Some drivers rely on a piece of clothing instead of a token.
Alan Jones had lucky red underwear that he credited with helping him win the 1980 championship. He told the media that he had lost them and his wife had to find and send them by special express back to him before the race.
Drivers like two-time world champion Fernando Alonso rely on not gaining bad luck instead of finding good luck.
According to notable photographer Kym Illman, Alonso avoids certain people on race day for fear of them bringing him bad luck and will sanitize his hands immediately if he shakes hands with anyone.
Superstitions are popular throughout the grid and many drivers share the same rituals.
Entering the car from a certain side is a popular superstition. Michael Schumacher would only enter from the left side, as would Mark Webber, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. Whereas Adrian Sutil would only enter from the right side and needed to put on his right boot and glove first.
Some drivers’ superstitions go beyond the order of getting dressed. Alex Wurz wore mismatched racing boots for every race. And Stefano Modena always wore one glove turned inside out. Although widely believed to be a superstition, he has said this was due to the seams cutting his fingers.
Modena took things a step further than most other drivers. Martin Brundle shed light on the depth of his Brabham teammate’s superstitions in his book “Working the Wheel”. There was one instance of Modena requesting his car to be moved from the left side of the garage to the right because he wouldn’t get into his car if it was on the left half. In a 2014 interview with Motor Sport Magazine Modena confirmed he is “still very superstitious and always was.”
Sometimes drivers stop rituals and superstitions. David Coulthard was forced to stop wearing his blue underwear after they were ruined during an accident, but did continue bringing them to the track until they were thrown out by a McLaren employee. Lewis Hamilton decided when he was 18 that his rituals were just blocking him mentally and stopped being superstitious altogether.
From entering the car from a certain side to lucky underpants, Formula 1 has seen strange superstitions. Superstitions and rituals are unique to each driver and will continue to evolve depending on what reduces tension for each driver the most.
Competition and Compensation: Comparing Bonus Criteria in B1G Athletic Directors’ Contracts
Written with Zoe Hall, Nick Tiegler, Sarah Worthington
There are more than 14,000 student-athletes in the Big Ten. Each is expected to win on the field and succeed in the classroom.
The 18 Big Ten athletic directors are competing behind the scenes for a championship cup of their own.
The Director’s Cup helps determine athletic director bonuses nationwide and focuses solely on athletic achievement.
Among the elements included in athletic director contracts are bonuses paid to the administrators based on the academic and sports success of their teams. A review of four Big Ten athletic director contracts, however, revealed far more opportunities to earn money around success in competition than in classes.
Bonus compensation structures are similar among the Big Ten athletic directors examined–comparing Ohio State University’s Ross Bjork, University of Illinois’ Joshua Whitman, Indiana University’s Scott Dolson, and the University of Oregon’s Rob Mullens, but the opportunities for compensation can vary, Bennett Speyer, an attorney of law who specializes in sports contracts, said.
Whitman, for example, has the most detailed bonus compensation structure among the four. It includes bonuses for making the College Football Playoff Top 25 Rankings, winning more than 20 volleyball games, and receiving fundraising gifts of at least $5 million. He has 71 bonus opportunities.
In contrast, Indiana University provided Dolson just three bonus criteria: winning a Big Ten Conference Championship, an academic progress rate of 950 or above, and winning a national championship.
If each of Indiana’s 20 sports won a National Championship in a single year, Dolson stands to make $2 million.
Illinois and Ohio State provide the most opportunities for athletic directors to receive bonuses, but they also have compensation limits.
Whitman’s bonuses cannot exceed $350,000 in a contract year, and $175,000 of that can come from academic success. Bjork’s bonus ceiling is $250,000 and up to $150,000 of that can be from academic achievements.
“Most contracts have a ceiling on the amount that could be earned with bonuses,” said Daniel Marburger, economics professor at Arizona State University.
Mullens can earn $50,000 in academic bonuses each year, but if Oregon Football participates in a college football playoff bowl game, Mullens will earn an extra $200,000.
At Illinois, only 7% of bonus opportunities are academic. Making 5 out of 71 criteria are academic.
“The reward system [creates] better bonuses if athletic goals [are] achieved relative to academic goals,” said Marburger.
Speyer said he is on the fence about whether the academic bonuses are for show or actually meaningful.
“I don't think I've seen any athletic director fired because of APR, or grad rate, or GPA average,” said Speyer.
Along with these academic and athletic incentives, another detail that contributes to these bonus clauses is the Learfield Director’s Cup, which, since 1993, has provided an annual ranking of athletic departments by division, based on final standings in a sampling of sports. Division I, scoring is based on final standings in baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball, in addition to the next 14 most successful sports.
Bjork has the most to make from winning the Director’s Cup with $100,000 on the line. Most other directors make $25,000 for placing anywhere in the top 10.
But, Director’s Cup standings and academic success only tell part of the story.
The most lucrative opportunity for athletic directors comes from success in revenue-generating sports, specifically football and basketball, with specific clauses for winning a Big Ten or national championship.
“The reality is the performance in the revenue sports…are going to be richer for achievement in those areas, because it means more,” Speyer said.
Mullens has no monetary incentive for any success in any sports outside of football and men’s and women’s basketball, while Bjork will earn $10,000 for a Buckeye national championship in any sport outside of football and basketball. He can make up to $150,000 based on football and basketball success in the postseason.
For many athletic directors, bonuses are nice but not the foundation of their compensation, as most of those studied make more than $1 million annually.
They will, however, get compensated for staying loyal to their program. Bjork, for example, will make $1.25 million if he completes his five-year contract.
Mullens’ salary increases by $500,000 each year he stays at Oregon, with a potential total of $4 million over eight years. Combined with his base salary of $1.15 million annually, this bonus makes Mullens one of the highest-paid athletic directors in the Big Ten conference and among the highest-paid nationally.
Dolson, however, has no guarantee of an increase during his three-year contract.
Regardless of differences, athletic director contracts all originate from the university. They can influence what the athletic director views as important.
“Contracts come from the university and therefore, reflect university priorities,” Marburger said.