Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais carried the 2025 Drivers' and Co-drivers' titles into the new season, while Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT were the reigning manufacturers' champions. The most consequential off-season development was Kalle Rovanperä's departure from rallying to pursue single-seater racing in the Super Formula Championship. His vacancy at Toyota was filled by Oliver Solberg, promoted to a full-time Rally1 seat. Ott Tänak took an indefinite break from the series.
Fourteen rounds were scheduled for 2026. The Croatia Rally returned to the calendar in place of the Central European Rally, operating from new headquarters in Rijeka and introducing a set of mixed tarmac stages. The Acropolis Rally relocated from Lamia to Loutraki. The Italian Rally and Rally Japan exchanged positions in the schedule, and the Rally di Roma Capitale was formally announced as the long-term replacement for Rally Italia Sardegna from 2027.
Two regulatory changes addressed driver welfare and operational planning. A minimum of 10 rest hours per event was made mandatory following sustained criticism of demanding itineraries. Engine changes after the start of a rally were newly permitted, though crews doing so incurred a 60-minute time penalty.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT fielded Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston, and Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen as full-time pairings. Ogier and Landais competed on a partial program of ten rallies. Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT retained Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria for all rounds. A shared third Hyundai entry was piloted by Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo, and Hayden Paddon in rotation, with Paddon making his top-tier return for the first time since the 2018 Rally Australia. M-Sport ran Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy and introduced Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne from the European Rally Championship, completing a Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy lineup. All Rally1 entries used Hankook tyres.
Oliver Solberg opened the championship with a win in Monte Carlo, where difficult conditions eliminated the two M-Sport full-time crews and ended the team's 24-year run of points-scoring finishes. Evans and Martin followed with a commanding Toyota 1–2–3–4 result at the next round.
At the Safari Rally, the three Toyota nominated crews all retired on Saturday. Katsuta and Johnston rallied from outside the top five on the first day to claim their maiden WRC victory. Croatia produced a similarly dramatic outcome: championship favourites Solberg and Evans both retired early, and Neuville and Wydaeghe, having led from the front, crashed out on the final Power Stage. Katsuta and Johnston inherited a second straight win and temporarily led the championship. Paddon finished on the podium in Croatia, his first since 2018.
The mid-season segment favoured Ogier, who won the Spanish round with Landais. Solberg and Edmondson crashed out while running second on the penultimate stage. The Rally de Portugal was set to be another Solberg victory until a puncture near the end allowed Neuville and Wydaeghe to win, giving Hyundai their first victory of the year. In Japan, Toyota won all twenty stages, with Evans and Martin taking the event.
Evans and Martin lead the Drivers' and Co-drivers' championships by twenty points over Katsuta and Johnston. Solberg and Edmondson are third, twenty-nine points further back. In the manufacturers' standings, Toyota holds a 93-point advantage over Hyundai.