Haas has finally taken off the veils on its 2026 contender and guess what? They have actually revealed their CAR, not the livery slapped on an FOM mockup, but the actual car that will be racing on track, and this is wild because it now makes the critical design details available for general public as well as the other teams to dig into, and try and gain some inspiration for upgrades in the future. That said, the launch marks the beginning of the Haas x Toyota partnership, with the livery showing it in rather bold decals.
The livery is mostly white with black and more red accents. This highlights the new title partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, or TGR. The team is now called TGR Haas F1 Team. Toyota branding appears prominently on the engine cover, shark fin, and front wing. This builds on their earlier technical partnership. The design looks bold and clean, with room for other sponsors too.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu said it feels surreal to unveil the car so early, but it is exciting for a year with such big changes. He noted the huge effort to get ready after last season, with focus on shakedown testing in Barcelona. Owner Gene Haas talked about the challenge of racing in 2025 while designing the new car. He is interested to see how all teams adapt and how the new rules affect performance. The drivers stay the same: Esteban Ocon from France and Ollie Bearman from Britain. This gives the team good continuity.
The VF-26 will hit the track soon. The first action comes during shakedown and pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya starting January 26. Teams get three days each over five days there. More tests follow in Bahrain in February. These sessions are key to understand the car and fix any issues before the season starts in Australia in March.
Looking at the VF-26 gives us a clear picture of what we can expect to see from the other teams in terms of design and approach. As far as the performance hierarchy itself is concerned, we will find out when the testing begins.
