Motorsports
What happens to the Formula 1 cars at the end of each year?
Creations costing millions of euros – in research, design, manufacturing and development – each year, the F1 prototypes usually end up in an obscure museum or private collection, only to become relics of a forgotten era or sought-after collector’s items in the future. But many of them remain alive.
Each team has a different way of managing the cars that are shelved each December, such as this year, which covered the 22 races on the schedule. Most have their own museum, such as McLaren at the Technology Center in Woking, which houses 50 to 75 cars from legends such as Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Other cars are in private collections, such as that of Prince Albert of Monaco, and others are at new car exhibitions either by the factories participating in the sport or their sponsors.
Former Formula 1 champions Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are among the collectors who will often enjoy multiples of the retail price of legendary cars in the future. Vettel’s collection includes, for example, the legendary Williams FW14B-Renault, with which Nigel Mansell destroyed the competition in the F1 championship in 1992.
However, less well-heeled collectors can occasionally purchase individual car parts, even from the e-store of the official Formula 1 website. Additionally, each car is made up of more than 80,000 parts, many of which are not even used during the race of the year – travel from game to game as replacements and are never needed. So they are new and perfect.
Some of the cars from the past are also still kept in working condition by the teams, for the infamous demo runs – various demonstrations around the world for the needs of sponsors – or for testing new drivers when and where they are allowed the use of modern cars is prohibited.
Others also remain functional, even among their collectors, who primarily participate in classic racing cars in Europe. Such races include, for example, the British Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Monaco Historic Grand Prix.
The rest ends up either in the warehouses or, at best, in the team museums. Mercedes is also showing either complete cars or individual components from the past in its factories in Brackley (chassis) and Brixworth (engines). The team claims that these inspire workers to build their next car.
In addition, Mercedes has a proper museum, opened in 2016, of all its historic vehicles, from the W01 of 2010 to the W14 of 2023, which is even put into operation every year to ensure that they can be used in a demo or race history at any time .
There are more than a million older car parts in its warehouses. This includes all engines that the company has made available to its customer groups over the years – e.g. Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams – part of the agreement is the return of the engines to Brixworth after the end of the season. As a result, the customer groups’ historic cars are rarely functional.
Source: sport 24
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
Legendary Formula 1 pilot Heinz-Harald Frentzen expressed an unexpected opinion about who will win the championship title in the 2026 season.
Frentzen raced in F1 from 1994 to 2003, competing for five different teams: Sauber, Williams, Jordan, Prost and Arous. But despite countless appearances, he was never at the right place and time to compete for the title.
In the fourth season, Frentzen became vice-champion of the Jordanian team, losing only to teammate Jacques Villeneuve after Michael Schumacher was disqualified in the final standings. This remains his best result in his career.
Just before the start of the 2026 season, as 11 teams prepared to subject their cars to new technical regulations, 58-year-old Frentzen published an unexpected prediction on social media.
Frentzen’s former Jordan teammate Damon Hill asked him at “X” who would win the title in 2026, and Frentzen replied:
“Fernando Alonso.”
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso is preparing to start his 23rd season in Formula 1, his fourth with Aston Martin. The team was actively preparing for the 2026 season by investing all the necessary resources in the car and inviting the best experts from Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and other teams. Among the main experts is the legendary engineer Adrian Newey.
Fernando Alonso
— Heinz Harald Frentzen (@frentzen_hh) January 11, 2026
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Aston Martin pilot Lance Stroll said that the team does not yet have enough cars to be the best team in Formula 1.
The Silverstone team recently hired legendary engineer Adrian Newey as team principal and plans to become a championship contender in the future.
Newey initially joined as technical managing partner, overseeing operations ahead of F1 regulation changes in 2026, but it was announced that he would replace Andy Cowell as team principal at the end of 2025.
It’s an unusual position for Newey, but the team hopes to move on from 2026. Newey and Enrico Cardile are just two of the big names drawn to top-flight Aston Martin.
The team includes two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and experienced Lance Stroll, who is starting his 10th season.
However, at the end of last year, Stroll remained cautious about the team’s future:
“That’s a big question for everyone. Nobody knows what each team will look like in Melbourne at the start of the season.”
Of course, we don’t have all the tools to be a top team and there is no point in hiding behind that, but time will tell how strong we are.
It is exciting for us to move forward with brand new people and structure, and new regulations. “As a team, we are looking forward to the season,” Stroll said.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Former Haas team manager Günter Steiner has come to the defense of Lando Norris, who some fans and pundits regard as an unworthy Formula 1 champion.
Max Verstappen’s run of four consecutive world titles ended last season when Norris won a tight three-way title fight at the final round in Abu Dhabi.
The British driver thus became the first British Formula 1 champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020, and the first McLaren driver to win the championship since Hamilton in 2008.
However, Norris faced a wave of criticism immediately after winning his first championship. While some experts and fans stated that the title was undeserved, it was claimed that the McLaren team preferred him over teammate Oscar Piastri.
The turning point of the season was a technical error at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, which caused Norris to retire from the race and fall 34 points behind Piastri. After that, many, including Steiner himself, eliminated the Briton from title contention.
However, the Italian admitted that he was wrong in his assessments and emphasized that any doubts that Norris deserved his title were unfounded.
Steiner said, “I don’t agree with that. He definitely deserves that title. Lando fought until the end.”
We all wrote him off throughout the season, especially me, but he bravely returned to the fight and that’s why he became world champion.
“He has learned his lessons and avoided the mistakes he made at the beginning of the season.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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