A primary glimpse of a 2026 System 1 automobile in motion has emerged on social media, with sneak footage of Audi’s Barcelona shakedown having been posted on YouTube.
Audi’s automobile, which shall be often known as the R26, was given a handful of laps across the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – the incoming German model is the primary crew identified to have run its new automobile forward of Barcelona’s behind-closed-doors take a look at on the finish of January.
Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto have been each scheduled to get behind the wheel as a part of a filming day to place Audi’s first-ever F1 powertrain by means of its paces at Barcelona, because the ex-Sauber outfit acquaints itself with its new identification.
Though low-resolution images have been circulated on social media purporting to be of the brand new automobile, these have been little greater than AI photos masked by a Gaussian blur impact.
However video footage, which emerged on YouTube channel F1 A TODO GAS, reveals the brand new R26 in motion. Whereas the footage doesn’t present the automobile notably carefully, having been filmed from a vantage level behind Flip 13, there are a number of key particulars on show.
Subsequent yr’s vehicles are 100mm narrower, and it is a notable visible change. Within the video, a barely raised nostril may be made out, as can an in-washing entrance wing, because the FIA’s laws have been designed to pursue wake management across the entrance wing. The endplates do now function a footplate and a flick-up to regulate the airflow across the entrance wheels.
Behind that, probably the most notable facet of Audi’s new automobile is in its push-rod entrance suspension package deal. Sauber had gravitated to a pull-rod entrance suspension design in 2024, following the lead set by McLaren and Pink Bull below the arrival of the earlier ground-effect regulation set. The inclination of the monitor rod begins from the highest floor of the chassis bulkhead, connecting to the decrease a part of the wheel upright.
It was theorized amid the earlier laws that pull-rod suspension had been extra useful for an anti-dive strategy to the automobile’s kinematics, however the anticipated softer spring charges of the brand new vehicles – now that the flooring are much less delicate to any minor modifications in trip top – have prompted a reversion.
Given the graininess of the footage, it is onerous to make out the rear suspension geometry, however it additionally appears to be like to be a push-rod format too. Previous to 2022, F1 groups had largely settled on pull-rod rear suspension layouts to maintain the centre of gravity low, however extra groups started to undertake push-rod rear suspension over the course of the 2022-25 regulation cycle.
The sidepods are additionally fascinating; throughout 2022-25, the myriad sidepod options seen within the early years of the formulation quickly converged in the direction of Pink Bull’s downwash answer, however Audi’s automobile seems to indicate an inwashing answer. This takes the circulation across the sidepods to maximise the effectiveness of the Coke bottle part across the rear of the bodywork.
So long as the airflow stays connected to the automobile, this may pull air by means of the central part slightly than expose the wake to the rear tyres.
Elsewhere, the engine word isn’t dissimilar to the earlier technology of energy models, though it maybe sings a contact extra heartily below acceleration. The brand new rear wing has a double mount connected to the underside, slightly than a single swan-neck mount that was constructed into the DRS actuator.
We wish your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Group
