A primary glimpse of a 2026 Method 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 might be referred to as the R26, was given a handful of laps across the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – the incoming German model is the primary crew recognized to have run its new automobile forward of Barcelona’s behind-closed-doors check on the finish of January.
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and had been each scheduled to get behind the wheel as a part of a filming day to place Audi’s first-ever F1 powertrain by way of its paces at Barcelona, because the ex-Sauber outfit acquaints itself with its new id.
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Though low-resolution pictures had been circulated on social media purporting to be of the brand new automobile, these had been little greater than AI photos masked by a Gaussian blur impact.
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However video footage, which emerged on YouTube channel F1 A TODO GAS, exhibits 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 12 months’s automobiles are 100mm narrower, and this can be a notable visible change. Within the video, a barely raised nostril might 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 characteristic 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 and Pink Bull underneath 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.
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It was theorized amid the earlier laws that pull-rod suspension had been extra helpful for an anti-dive strategy to the automobile’s kinematics, however the anticipated softer spring charges of the brand new automobiles – now that the flooring are much less delicate to any minor adjustments in journey peak – have prompted a reversion.
Given the graininess of the footage, it is onerous to make out the rear suspension geometry, however it additionally seems 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.
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The sidepods are additionally attention-grabbing; throughout 2022-25, the myriad sidepod options seen within the early years of the formulation quickly converged in direction of Pink Bull’s downwash resolution, however Audi’s automobile seems to indicate an inwashing resolution. This takes the circulate 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 way of the central part somewhat than expose the wake to the rear tyres.
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Elsewhere, the engine notice is just not dissimilar to the earlier era of energy items, though it maybe sings a contact extra heartily underneath acceleration. The brand new rear wing has a double mount connected to the underside, somewhat than a single swan-neck mount that was constructed into the DRS actuator.
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