Horsepower on the lawn: Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026
By Ross Forbes | 24 July 2026 | Cars & Yachts
At Goodwood, motoring history refuses to sit politely behind a rope; it fires up the Hill while the champagne remains reassuringly chilled
A 1,275PS McLaren W1 launching up Goodwood Hill’s 1.16-mile climb is a persuasive introduction to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The luxury marque’s all-new V8 hybrid powertrain drives only the rear wheels and, from rest, 200km/h arrives in 5.8 seconds. Watching it fire past the stately façade of Goodwood House, West Sussex, I understood why ordinary motor-show rules do not apply here.
Goodwood’s 2026 theme, “The Rivals – Epic Racing Duels”, drew on more than a century of competition during the event, held from 9-12 July 2026, but it was no static retrospective: much of that history was still running up the Hill.
On my first visit, courtesy of McLaren, the drive through immaculate Sussex villages felt quintessentially British and almost suspiciously tranquil, a fitting prelude to Goodwood’s blend of country-house elegance and motorsport theatre. But, inside the gates, eras began to overlap. Across the event, cars from the 1920s, such as Bentley’s 1926 Super Sports ‘Smoky’, sat within a short walk of future hypercars like the newly revealed Hennessey Venom F5-M Roadster, which somehow channels 2,028PS through a six-speed manual gearbox. Visitors could study open engine bays and speak to the people working on them. A heavily modified R35 GT-R shared the “Catch My Drift” race with an extraordinary 1989 Volvo 745. Serious engineering was everywhere – but Goodwood never lets reverence drain the fun.
Trying to impose an itinerary to our visit soon became pointless. We roamed until whatever noise caught our attention pulled us back towards the Hill, often just as another batch began its run. My phone, despite our guest briefing specifically advising a full charge, died almost immediately – an enforced digital detox at an event where everything deserved a photograph.
Against Goodwood at full volume, the McLaren House hospitality space provided the day’s most welcome contrast. Set beside Goodwood House and the Ballroom Paddock, its airy, open-sided space was only a short walk from the action but felt remarkably removed from it. During the heatwave, the circular bar’s ice-cold water became as desirable as the Veuve Clicquot or Goodwood-brewed beer. British classics like fish and chips shared the menu with Mediterranean-inspired dishes, while shaded seating, complimentary sun cream and – never underestimate this at a packed festival – excellent private restroom facilities made it a genuine refuge where attention to detail was the order of the day.
But McLaren House was much more than a refuge from the heat, connecting the marque’s past, present and future without turning the cars into museum pieces. Bruce McLaren’s tiny Austin 7 Ulster, in which he won his first race aged 15, established the beginning. The pioneering carbon-fibre F1 road car showed how far that ambition travelled. Across the space, the Can-Am M8A faced McLaren Special Operations’ restored M6GT, while the newly launched 788HS pulled the same story into 2026.
That sense of access extended beyond the machinery. Singer’s vast triple-arched Central Feature lifted three reimagined Porsche 911s over the lawn, yet my favourite spectacle involved no sculpture. Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Lando Norris appeared on the Goodwood House balcony with nine-time motorcycle racing World Champion Valentino Rossi, speaking candidly as the crowd pressed towards the House. From where I stood, it felt less like a scheduled appearance than two champions enjoying a rare day away from their usual pressures, with the fans sharing in the moment.
That is the art of Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. It makes extraordinary cars feel close and motorsport history feel alive, while McLaren House offers the space and hospitality from which to take it all in in style.
Images: Matt Alexander/PA Media Assignments, Jas Lehal/PA Media Assignments
