Haas first team to release images of 2026 F1 car

The American Formula 1 team Haas on Monday released the first images of its 2026 car, which will once again be driven by Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

The US-based team, set to contest its eleventh season in motorsport's top tier, has kept its traditional colors for the car, named the Haas VF-26, prominently featuring white, red, and black.

"Like all teams, we've faced the challenge of competing in 2025 while looking to design and now build these new-regulation entries for the 2026 season," said Gene Haas, owner of the American outfit.

Like the 10 other F1 teams, this new car will make its on-track debut next week during closed-door testing in Barcelona.

"It's been a monumental effort from everyone on the team to work with such a tight turnaround time from the end of last season to putting cars on track in January," said Ayo Komatsu, the team's Japanese principal.

"It goes without saying that after so much talk, we can't wait to see how these cars will perform."

The cars will evolve significantly this season as they must comply with new technical regulations that will make them smaller and lighter.

The power unit, hybrid since 2014, will also change, with a greater contribution from electric power and the use of "100 percent sustainable" fuels.

"Clearly, the biggest change is from the engine side, and that's going to be the key for us to be prepared. It's an exciting challenge, and it's a different way of driving compared to before," said French driver Ocon, who is set to contest his tenth F1 season.

"I think we can forget everything that we've learnt since go-karts on how to go fast but it will be interesting to learn a new driving style and hopefully find speed with it."

Teammate Bearman says the rule changes will create great uncertainty as the cars line up for the opening races of the season.

"It's impossible to gauge where we're going to be right now," said.

"Everything I'm seeing from the team is positive but we don't know how we stack up, and we won’t know until qualifying in Australia.

"In the first few races reliability is going to be playing a big factor. There are going to be teams and people making mistakes with these new regulations. It's going to be tough to establish a true pecking order.”

Haas finished eighth out of 10 in the 2025 Constructors' World Championship with 79 points.

The new season begins at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 8.