Audi teases first images of real 2026 F1 car after fakes
Audi has teased the first images of its 2026 Formula 1 car from a successful early shakedown in Spain.
The German manufacturer, which has taken over the Sauber team for 2026, ran at Barcelona with both Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto driving.
Fake imagery of the Audi R26 was spread widely on social media, which created suggestions the team was running a ‘mule car’ of some kind given the artificially generated pictures clearly took design cues from the previous generation of cars not the new 2026 machines.
Some video and photographs taken from a distance outside the circuit grounds did seem more legitimate but none gave a clear view of the car.
Audi did run its 2026 car in the test, though, and even showed it - in obfuscated form - in two pictures from a batch of images shared from Barcelona.
Both were pitlane shots. One is from the front, in colour but from a distance and with the car mostly a silhouette, while the other is a black-and-white photo from the rear of the car in its pitbox.
A third image shows a glimpse of the corner of the new-look rear wings in this ruleset, but no more. The other pictures are atmospheric and team photos, which only show members including team principal Mattia Binotto wearing simple Audi Revolut F1 Team gear - black with white stripes, by new partner Adidas.
The car is likely to be similar to what is used in the private collective test all 11 teams are due to attend at the end of the month but could end up a relatively distant cousin of the car that will run in the public tests in Bahrain and especially the R26 that starts the season in Australia.
It is already known that the first Audi engine is in a conservative form to prioritise reliability and mileage during testing and the final homologation will be different.
Getting early running for that engine was a key reason for Audi completing its initial shakedown so soon.
Although the 200km limit imposed on such private promotional events (or filming days) and the mandated use of different Pirelli tyres still allows for a reasonable level of running and some initial car assessments, Audi said that the priority was to check the “full functionality of the car” with performance work to come through pre-season testing proper.