2028 Formula One season

The  was the 17th Formula One championship, contested between 9 teams, 18 drivers and 6 engines over 16 Grands Prix. The circus opened at the historic Silverstone Circuit and culminated at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Double. The potent Kesley Martinson and Sauber combination took their fourth championship in five years, though they only lead 4 and 2 rounds respectively. Ferrari broke Toyota's four-year Engines' Championship streak convincingly, securing it 4 rounds before the season finale. Their team and lead driver Vergne looked sure to be champions at the mid-season point, but terrible reliability fatally hindered them; Vergne only finished one race out of the closing eight rounds. Nevertheless, neither Ferrari was beaten in a race they finished the entire season – surely one for the record books.

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. The new system only counts the top two results of an engine towards their 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 stayed to do some extra days after the mid-season test at Bahrain. The next real opportunity for testing after then was the mid-season break between Australia and Belgium – Ferrari reserved Mugello for themselves, while South McLaren tested 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.

Opening rounds
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 fared 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 avoid that wooden spoon. Vergne won from teammate Kulmala and Toyota's 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, the Ferraris 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 places 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 points 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 filled the last step of the podium, rookie Hussain's first and Santander's first of the year. 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 broke their string of points-scoring finishes this season but maintained constructors' position. 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 Minardi in particular found the test very successful.

Jewel and European rounds
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 their contract for next year, as Ericsson had decided to retire at the end of the season, but 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. For once, they got both cars to the finish with a 1-2 lead by Vergne, both Saubers failed to finish, and firs the first time both Toyota and Williams seemed to have the pace to challenge the Saubers. Their prospects were looking good. Further down Williams were still yet to pass Santander on the standings, the two McLaren teams were tied on 10 points, and Ford were 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 Williams driver Rome continues to see broken cars languishing him down in 14th.

In a retirement-plagued race at Melbourne, a non-Ferrari took victory for 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 as the slowest engine on the grid. Minardi finally got off the mark with Aaldenberg scoring an impressive 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.

In Belgium Vergne struggled with reliability, retiring for the fourth time this season. Nevertheless Ferrari's private test at Mugello helped them enormously, and they won by one of the biggest margins this season. Ericsson was best of the rest from Martinson. Hussain in his Santander continued to show great form, beating a Sauber, a Toyota, and a Williams to fourth place. Rome continued to struggle down in 10th, leaving him less-than-10th in the championship. Shortly after the Grand Prix, North Mclaren and Ferrari announced their partnership would continue for another two years, with Ferrari retaining both a full driver and and test driver seat in the team. Nvidia also confirmed they would be Sauber's title sponsor for a further four years.

In Monza, Vergne's 11-pole streak was broken by team mate Kulmala. This mattered little as both Ferraris retired for the second time in three rounds. The win was given to Abraham which, for the adoring Tifosi, was probably the best alternative to a Ferrari winning – he himself being an ex-Ferrari driver who won here once before. Only Glock and Rome from the other top teams finished the race. Hussain took his second podium and highest result yet with an impressive 2nd place from 9th on the grid, and Kurosawa scored his second podium in three races from 8th on the grid. Seghers scored his first points of the season off the back of an announcement that Lockheed Martin would continue to partner the Ford team for a further three years.

Flyaway finales
In Turkey Vergne returned to form, topping the Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying, followed by Martinson, Ericsson and Abraham. The two Ferraris once again ran in to problems and both retired, though not before they put on a show with very close racing between the Frenchman and Finn for once. Martinson maintained position to take the win, meanwhile Abraham stole 2nd away from Ericsson. Santander suffered a rare double-retirement too, leaving Ford, North and South to pick up the remaining points positions after Salvage's fourth place. Suddenly, Martinson brought himself in to contention, with equal points to Vergne but 2nd on account of his lack of wins (6 to Vergne, 2 to Martinson). He'd need a strong final quarter to the season to get the title; Vergne would need a reliable one. Sauber were now also within 4 points of the Constructors' Championship lead.

Following a fallout after the round, Philbert Rome was fired from Williams. He had scored 5 points to team mate and retiring champion Ericsson's 33, and 0 podiums to Ericsson's 3. Test driver Maria Michelakakis took the Frenchman's seat, contracted on a race-by-race basis. The debacle exposed increasing pressure by both management and BMW on the team to produce results after a mediocre season. Vergne and Ferrari also announced the Frenchman would drive for the team for another two years, following extensive negotiations. Non-publically, Vergne has the option to leave the team within 1 month's notice for a relatively small sum compared to other drivers' exit clauses.

A mixed bag of fortunes was in store for Ferrari at Mexico. They qualified 1-2 in their usual order, Martinson third, Ericsson fourth. In the race both cars retired for the fourth time in five races. Not only that, Kesley Martinson and Sauber took the lead of the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, though Ferrari did secure the Engines' at this round. Ericsson won the race – a nice gesture in his final season in Formula One – meanwhile his team mate suffered reliability problems in both qualifying then was taken out in the race. As the season was coming to a close, the Constructors' Championship was hotting up all down the field: Williams overtook Toyota, and South McLaren retook North's 6th place. Williams needs to close 9 points on Santander to take an impressive third from them.

Two seats were announced over the course of the Japanese weekend. Guatier Faure re-signed with North McLaren for an additional 2 years after a competitive first year at the team, as was mostly anticipated. Meanwhile Toyota and Santander agreed Tore Notaro from Toyota's YDP should replace Badr Hussain, who was to be promoted for next season to Toyota. Notaro is moderately paid but management have a lot of leverage in terms of mid-season changes, putting him under quite a bit of pressure for his rookie season.

Meanwhile in the week prior to the Grand Prix, Toyota and Santander spent 3 days testing at Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway. Both teams struggled with reliability issues from the engine, and struggled but made some progress.

The test meant little for the weekend however, as both teams struggled in qualifying and the race. No worries though – their Japanese rivals Honda were no where near close to beating them. Vergne took pole from Kulmala and the order remained unchanged for the chequered flag. Martinson kept himself in the lead of the championship by filling the final podium spot, but admitted it would be difficult to keep the Ferrari behind him on raw pace alone. Salvage's Toyota looked capable of fighting with the Saubers but couldn't make it to the finish, miraculously the only car not to do so. Hussain beat Glock to 5th meanwhile, further impressing – and making some wonder whether a promotion was really a step upwards. Williams similarly struggled with a 7th and 13th.

The three McLaren/Honda–aligned teams tested on the track in the days after the Grand Prix, but adopted secretive tactics making the test hard to read.

Kulmala out-qualified Vergne for only the second time this season in Sao Paulo, meanwhile championship leader Martinson was down in 5th behind Ericsson and Salvage. A string of crashes and mechanical failures saw all of the top-tier-team drivers retire except Kulmala and Martinson, who finished 1-2 respectively. You'd have thought Santander would be there to pick up the pieces, but it was South McLaren's Wakahisa who took the last step of the podium, followed then by Hussain's Santander – apparently Honda's secretive testing had paid off. The weekend was disastrous for Vergne's championship; not only would he have to win the final round, Martinson would have to have a pointless finish. Ferrari pulled a 3 point gap on Sauber in the Constructors' thanks to Kulmala's win here – Vergne duly congratulated the Finn for ensuring the Drivers' was not given to Martinson, and for giving Ferrari a good chance of the Constructors'.

As per most of the season, Vergne took pole from Kulmala at the final round in Abu Dhabi. Salvage put an impressive show on to come third, quite far ahead of fourth place Ericsson. The race went disastrously for Ferrari once again, neither Ferrari made it to the half-way point, which gave the championship to Martinson no matter what. Salvage convincingly lead the rest of the race and went on to win his final race for Toyota before he would move to rival Williams. Ericsson scored a respectable 2nd place and fastest lap in his final Grand Prix. Martinson drove to a careful third place finish – a big gap in front and behind – giving Sauber the four points they needed to get the Constructors' too. Further down Seghers took the last point, making him one of only two drivers to move in the championship rankings as a result of this race (the other being Michelakakis, but meh). Vergne was downbeat but acknowledged the magnificent statistic of never being beaten, and acknowledged reliability as just as important a metric as speed, which ultimately decided this championship.

Results and standings

 * See also: Results sheet