Haas has turn into the newest crew to shake down its 2026 Method 1 automobile, because the grid makes their remaining preparations for the primary official check below the brand new laws.
F1 sophomore Oliver Bearman turned the primary laps within the Haas VF-26 at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit on Saturday, working Pirelli’s particular demonstration tyres as a part of the crew’s filming allocation.
In a brief social media put up, the American outfit shared a picture of Bearman exiting the storage at Fiorano with the caption, ‘The VF-26 is alive’.
The shakedown additionally marked the primary time Haas revealed actual photos of its 2026 contender, having beforehand proven solely digital renders of the automobiles throughout a web based launch on 19 January.
Haas’ run adopted only a day after Ferrari took the SF-26 to the identical venue on Friday for a ‘demonstration occasion’, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc splitting the working between them.
Haas has an extended partnership with Ferrari in F1 and it’ll proceed to run the Italian producer’s engines this yr, when the brand new rule cycle mandates a close to 50/50 cut up between energy generated by the inner combustion system and the hybrid unit.
Nevertheless, 2026 can also be important for Haas in one other method, because it expanded its partnership with Toyota, which has now turn into its title sponsor. The VF-26 pushed by Bearman at Fiorano carried important branding from Toyota Gazoo Racing on the entrance wing and the engine cowl.
With the shakedown full, seven of the 11 groups on the grid have run their 2026 automobiles in some kind: Audi, Cadillac, Alpine, Mercedes, Racing Bulls, Ferrari and now Haas.
Solely Williams, Pink Bull, Aston Martin and reigning champion McLaren are nonetheless to hold out their first on-track outings of the yr.
Of these, Williams seems to be the furthest delayed, having already introduced it is not going to participate within the Barcelona check week.
Barring some other unexpected circumstances, the remaining 10 groups are anticipated to journey to Spain for the Barcelona check from 26-30 January. Whereas the monitor is booked for 5 days, every crew can solely choose three days to run their 2026 automobiles.
Haas has already indicated that the specification it brings to Barcelona is not going to be equivalent to the one it races on the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March, pointing to an aggressive early improvement programme for the VF-26.
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