2028 Formula One season

The  is the 17th Formula One championship, being contested between 9 teams, 18 drivers and 5 engines over 16 Grands Prix. The circus opened at the historic Silverstone Circuit and will culminate at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Double. As of the end of the ninth round, defending champions Vergne and Ferrari look to be in control of all three champions. Toyota's 4-Engine Championship streak may come to an end this season!

Calendar
The two Italian circuits agreed it would not be financially viable to have two races so close together, both in location and time. As such Monza opted to drop out of calendar. Imola opted to take its place, while Abu Dhabi came to a settlement with Interlagos and the FIA to host a Grand Prix this year as the last round.

Testing was changed for this season. While previously three test sessions each of 4 days were held pre-season (one at Jerez, two at Catalunya), for this season, the Jerez session was removed, and one Catalunya session was relocated to Kyalami Racing Circuit. It was also decided that a mid-season 2-day test session would be added straight after the Bahrain Grand Prix at the circuit. Originally, an additional session was planned to be held after the Turkish Grand Prix, however, following discussions with the teams, it was agreed to allow all teams 4 days of independent testing to be used at their own discretion any time between the first and last rounds of the season.

Rule changes
As many considered the engine championship more a measure of quantity over quality, the FIA elected to make some major changes to this aspect. Only the top two results of an engine will be counted towards the championship, meaning single-team engine suppliers have a chance at the championship. In addition, 5 points are awarded per pole position to engine suppliers, as this is a time of race weekends when the engine has its largest impact.

Team changes
The management of Team EADS put the outfit into liquidation after the season, citing their failure to progress to the front of the grid as a reason. BMW, off whom EADS had bought engines since both organizations' arrivals in, were suspected as a main buyer due to their interest in having their own team. However, the German auto manufacturer denied these allegations, stating that if they owned a team, their team would be the only team running the BMW engine, and that they didn't want to sacrifice their good relationship with Williams. Santander, a major, long-term Ferrari and trackside sponsor, bought out the team, marking a major leap for prospects of privateer teams. They opted to become Toyota's young driver programme team, similar to the way Minardi operates for McLaren. Their engine deal was set to last until the same point as Sauber's, for the season.

McLaren Group founded a second Formula One team, comprising mainly of ex-Caterham, -Cloud and -Renault personnel. The group named it North McLaren, and renamed its first team to South McLaren Honda, the two teams being named based on their relative geographic locations. South McLaren would, for all intensive purposes, be a completely different team, but they would still be managed by the McLaren Group. Ferrari announced a deal with North McLaren wherein the Italian auto company would supply engines and test driver Abner Ashley for at least a year, after the Brit impressed covering for Kulmala's injuries last year. McLaren Group also sold a large chunk of its shares in Minardi. Part of the deal meant McLaren would now dictate only one of Minardi's driver seats, instead of both, the idea being that Minardi would fill the seat with a driver who could bring major funds to the team.

Toyota management, post-Santander developments, decided it was not in their best interests to supply a rival team their engine, despite its financial benefit, paying off the contract and bringing to an end the 6 year partnership that saw 9 championships won. Shortly after the announcement, Sauber poached their then-contracted reserve drivers from Toyota's young driver program and brought them under their own management, though the team itself did not officially leave the program. Sauber also brought Santander driver and Toyota YDP member Badr Hussein's status under debate, as he had close ties to Sauber. With Ferrari, BMW and Ford similarly not wanting to supply a championship-capable rival, Sauber was left with the options of running the Honda engine, or a rebadged Toyota engine. Toyota eventually agreed to sell the designs of their 2027 engine to Sauber, who would in exchange nullify their contract with Hussein and pay a lump sum. Sauber contracted their partner Coba Precision to develop the engine, but the precision engineering company had little history in engine development, especially of this complexity, so Sauber downplayed expectations.

Driver changes
Romain Grosjean retired from (South) McLaren. The Frenchman had 274 Grands Prix to his name, of which 20 were victories, and had featured in almost all races since the series' conception in. He moved to Minardi as their. Long-time McLaren test driver Mark Reier replaced his seat, the Australian bringing some young talent to the team.

Ferrari also announced they would lease Abner Ashley and supply engines to new team, North McLaren, for a year. The Brit would then be considered for a seat at Ferrari after Jean-Eric Vergne retired before next season. Abner would remain a third driver for Ferrari, stepping in if any drivers were to get injured.

North McLaren also hired Guatier Faure to add some young talent to the team. The Frenchman left Ford after a quiet season, and had had, before that, three impressive years at EADS, coming 4th overall with three victories in his first season. Ford hired Greek Sotiris Dimitriou from Minardi to replace him, whilst Minardi replaced the Dimitriou with Michael Lorenz, with the promise of bringing raw dolla to the team.

Bernard Babineaux announced his retirement from the sport following the 2027 Italian Grand Prix. The Canadian had two wins and eleven more podiums to his name, and marked the first grid since without a Canadian driver. Replacing him as first driver at EADS-turned-Santander was the experienced Japanese Toyota test driver Gorou Kurosawa, who would help the team develop for a year before himself retiring. As EADS had planned, Dawood Amjad would not be offered a contract renewal for 2028, and he, too, chose to retire. Replacing him as second driver was initially to be Badr Hussain, but following Toyota and Sauber's parting ways, his status was brought under debate. Badr had a contract to drive with Santander, who was being paid by Toyota as part of their Young Driver's Programme, but his test driver contract with Sauber from last year was not fully released. Sauber eventually settled with Toyota, and the Saudi Arabian was allowed to drive.

Young driver programmes
* Years served in the programme as of the beginning of this season.

Mid-season tests
Immediately following pre-season testing, the troubled Williams team announced it planned to spend two days testing at the Silverstone Circuit immediately after Grand Prix there, the first one of the season. This follows a rather dreadful end to the 2027 season and a disappointing winter of development. Ford also expressed an interest, but later came to an agreement with Indianapolis Speedway to test at the track a few days before the Grand Prix.

Between those tests and the Indian Grand Prix, all teams had scheduled their test sessions for the year. 7 teams would stay to do some extra days after the mid-season test at Bahrain. The next real opportunity for testing after then is the mid-season break between Australia and Belgium – Ferrari have reserved Mugello for themselves, while South McLaren are testing at Catalunya. In the week before the Japanese Grand Prix, Toyota and engine partner Santander will test at Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway together, while the McLaren–Honda trio (Minardi, North McLaren and South McLaren) will stay on after Suzuka to test. By this point, all mid-season test should be finished.

Sauber was originally set to join South McLaren at Catalunya testing, but pulled out and rearranged their test for just before the final race of the season, the idea being that they would run the Renault engine for next season and get some mileage on that.

Course
The season opened at Silverstone Circuit, and early on it became apparent the order of teams was largely the same as last year, though Ferrari had the legs on Toyota followed by everyone else, Vergne quite a bit faster than Kulmala. Williams struggled for reliability in the opening round, while Santander faired well to get both cars in the points ahead of the Sauber of Martinson. On the bright side the battle for last place was spicy, with Minardi, North and South McLaren, and Ford all eager to get that wooden spoon. Vergne won from Kulmala and Salvage.

Williams followed up the Grand Prix with a test of their own, and made solid progress, as did Ford just before the second round at Indianapolis.

At Indianapolis, Ferrari were quick again with Vergne but he failed to finish the race, giving Kulmala victory and the lead in the championship. Salvage and Ericsson looked to be the contenders for the next spot, but both retired, giving the two Saubers the remaining podium spots and a healthy jump to 2nd in the championship. Santander lead the second tier once again with a double points finish, while Ford opened its point account for the season.

For the Thai Grand Prix, Jean-Eric won his second race of the season race from pole with fastest lap, but the pack seemed to be closer to Ferrari this time. Kulmala retired from 2nd with engine problems, giving the lead of the championship back to his team mate. Sauber's Martinson was given 2nd with slightly faster team mate Abraham's retirement, while Santander miraculously achieved their first podium in only their third race with rookie Hussain scoring a 3rd place. Further back Minardi struggled with a slow car and driver in Lorenz, who showed signs of the pressure getting to him. Perhaps in points rather than pace, Santander had made the ascension to the top tier, leaving long time rivals Mclaren and Ford to fight for 6th place.

Ferrari took another win with Vergne at the Buddh International, this time in very dominant fashion; even Kulmala could get nowhere near Vergne's pace before retiring once more. Sauber again took a double podium and for the first time made gains in to Ferrari's constructor lead. Further down Toyota and Williams again struggled, both with reliability and pace. In the days following the race, Carlos Perez came to an agreement with his Ford team to step down to let reserve driver Wim Seghers take over, the Mexican admitting he's been losing enthusiasm as of late. It was not revealed how long this arrangement was for.

What is this, a broken record? Vergne first, Martinson second Abraham third once again, this time in Bahrain. Toyota got both cars to the finish for the first time this season, meanwhile Santander failed to score points for the first time but maintained constructors' position. Meanwhile Ford's wishes came to fruition as Seghers showed competitive pace by out-qualifying his team mate in his first outing in over two years.

Only Ferrari and South McLaren elected to not use some of their extra testing days straight after the mid-season test following the Bahrain Grand Prix. Of those teams that did, Toyota and Santander only used 1 extra day, while the others used 2. Santander and Ford struggled with teething problems during the test and the following break before the next Grand Prix, failing to make much progress at all. Williams and Minardin in particular found the test very successful.

Once again Ferrari looked the ones to beat at Estoril. Vergne took pole from his team mate then the team Saubers. Come race day, Abraham and Vergne collided at the first corner, leaving Kulmala to take victory from Martinson and a much-improved Ericsson. While Salvage and Rome retired, one North and one South McLaren beat remaining top-tier driver Glock tot he lines. It was little consolation that Toyota moved ahead of Santander in the constructors' championship, considering they had now been beaten by 3 bottom-tier at least once teams over the season.

Following the round, Ericsson and Williams mutually agreed to terminate Ericsson's contract for next year, as he had decided to retire at the end of the season. This would not be announced until later. Ferrari also announced Kulmala was to drive for them next season, though hid the fact that he was only signed for the first half of the season. Negotiations with Vergne were ongoing, pay being a talking point now that he was looking to become a 2-time world champion.

Austria was a very successful round for Ferrari. They got both cars to the with a 1-2 lead by Vergne, both Saubers failed to finish, and both Toyota and Williams seemed to have the pace to challenge the Saubers. Their prospects were looking good. Further down Williams are still yet to pass Santander on the standings, the two McLaren teams are tied on 10 points, and Ford are struggling to make headway on two points. Despite a dreadful weekend, both Sauber drivers were announced as re-signed for next season, Martinson with quite a bit more pay and more contractual liberties. Toyota also announced Hussain would drive for them next season replacing Salvage, although Glock was in negotiations about whether to complete his two-year contract.

Usually Monaco springs a few surprises. None here: another 1-2 in the bag for Ferrari – Vergne from Kulmala followed by Abraham, then two Toyotas, the other Sauber and Ericsson's Williams. With such unusual reliability at the top, no bottom-tier teams were able to score points. Since very little happened this round we'll give a mention to Wim Seghers. He's yet to get off the mark in terms of points, but solid finishes have seen him sneaking up the order to 16th. Hussain remains the only bottom-tier driver in the top 8, whereas top-tier driver Rome continues to see broken cars languishing him down in 14th.

In a retirement-plagued race at Melbourne, a non-Ferrari took victory first the first time this season. Both cars retired for Ferrari, Toyotas and North McLaren, as did Ericsson. Martinson took the win from Kurosawa, Abraham and Hussain – Sauber, Santander, Sauber, Santander. This gave Coba their first engine victory, quite a feat considering they're widely regarded the slowest engine on grid. Minardi finally got off the mark with Aaldenberg scoring a 7th place too. Wakahisa announced during the weekend that he had signed a three-year contract with Williams, moving on from McLaren who gave him his only championship, leaving Rome without a drive. Indian test driver Sudarshan Bachchan was confirmed as Wakahisa's replacement.

Results and standings

 * See also: Results sheet