Toyota retained Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin as their full-time entry for the season, with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston and the pairing of Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen also continuing. Ogier and Landais returned on a partial program across ten rallies. The most significant departure at Toyota was Kalle Rovanpera, who announced he would leave the championship to pursue an open-wheel career in the Super Formula Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing, though he did not rule out a future return to rallying. His vacated seat went to Oliver Solberg, who joined on his first full-time contract in the top tier after previous part-time outings with Hyundai in 2022.
Hyundai retained Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria for full campaigns. A third car was shared across the season by Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo, and Hayden Paddon. Paddon's inclusion marked his first appearance at the premium level since the 2018 Rally Australia. Ott Tanak announced an indefinite break from the championship at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
M-Sport kept Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy and brought in Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne, who stepped up from the European Rally Championship to complete a full Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy lineup, replacing Gregoire Munster and Louis Louka in the second full-time seat. Munster was confirmed to contest the Monte Carlo opener in a third M-Sport Rally1 car. Martins Sesks continued on a partial program of seven events. All crews in the championship use tyres supplied by Hankook.
The 2026 calendar featured fourteen rounds. Croatia Rally returned after missing the 2025 season, replacing the Central European Rally, with new headquarters in Rijeka replacing the traditional Zagreb base and an entirely new set of mixed tarmac stages. The Italian Rally and Rally Japan swapped calendar positions from the previous year. A confirmed future change was also announced: the new Rally di Roma Capitale will replace Rally Italia Sardegna from 2027 onwards. The Acropolis Rally shifted its headquarters from Lamia to Loutraki after five years at the former base.
Following widespread criticism of event itinerary length, a minimum of ten rest hours was introduced into each rally. An additional change permitted crews to replace engines after the start of a rally, but any such swap incurred a 60-minute time penalty.
The season opener at Monte Carlo was held in difficult weather conditions that caught out several crews, including both M-Sport pairings. McErlean and Treacy along with Armstrong and Byrne both failed to score, ending M-Sport's 24-year consecutive points-scoring run. The rally was won by Solberg and Edmondson, who took victory on the first rally of their first full-time season in the top class. Toyota locked out a 1-2-3-4 result at the following round, with Evans and Martin winning.
The Safari Rally produced a different picture, with all three Toyota nominated crews retiring on Saturday. Katsuta and Johnston took their maiden victory despite running outside the top five through the first leg. A similar narrative played out in Croatia, where both Solberg and Evans exited early. Neuville and Wydaeghe led until the final Power Stage, where they crashed out of the road, handing the win to Katsuta and Johnston, who led the championship for the first time in their careers. Paddon claimed third, his first podium since the 2018 Rally Australia.
Ogier and Landais won the rally of Spain, while Solberg and Edmondson retired on the penultimate stage while running second. The Solberg pairing also suffered a puncture at the penultimate stage of Rally de Portugal while on course for a consecutive win. Neuville and Wydaeghe capitalised and won, claiming Hyundai's first victory of the season. On tarmac in Japan, Toyota dominated completely, winning all twenty stages, with Evans and Martin taking their second victory of the season and extending their championship lead.
After seven rounds, Evans and Martin lead the Drivers' and Co-drivers' championships respectively, twenty points ahead of Katsuta and Johnston. Solberg and Edmondson sit third, a further twenty-nine points back. In the Manufacturers' championship, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT hold a 93-point lead over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.