Haas 'faces Bigger Challenge Than Rivals' As It Reveals New 2026 F1 Car

Haas has revealed the first images of its new car for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The VF-26 is the 11th F1 chassis designed by the team. Haas revealed the first renderings of the car today but said its design is likely to change significantly before the season begins in March.

Ayao Komatsu, who is heading into his third season in charge of the team, said Haas has faced its toughest off-season to date as it prepares for F1’s new regulations.

“The new regulations mean it’s financially challenging and regarding resources, everyone knows we’re still the smallest team,” he said. “It’s a huge challenge, and as team principal, the responsibility is bigger, ensuring that this team is equipped to tackle this massive regulation change.

“I don’t think any team, even the biggest, is going to say they’re fully equipped to tackle this, however for us, the challenge is bigger.”

However Komatsu said he is encouraged by the progress the team has made in recent years. Although they fell from seventh to eighth in the championship last year, they increased their points haul from 58 to 79.

“Away from [the] track, look at what we’ve achieved over the last couple of years – we’ve grown as a team,” he said. “Not just in [staff] numbers, but in terms of mentality, mindset, and how we go racing. I feel like we’re progressing our journey very, very well. It’s different to have something already established and, let’s say, adjusting it to new regulations.

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“We’re growing as a team in a pretty aggressive way, and at the same time, we’re tackling these brand new regulations. It’s a huge challenge, but we’ve already shown from what happened in Melbourne last year how we recovered from that, and we’ve haven’t stopped improving since.”

The VF-26 is due to run for the first time in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya next week. Komatsu expects all teams to develop their cars rapidly between the start of the season and the first race.

“The car everyone will see in Barcelona won’t be the car that races in Australia, and I think that will be across the board, because it’s simply too early,” he said. “It’s different, perhaps, having one test two weeks before the first race, but with over a month before the first race, teams won’t stop wind tunnel development. Hence, the cars testing in Barcelona, and even the first week of testing in Bahrain, will be less mature compared to what’s built in Australia for the first race.”

The car’s livery features much more prominent branding for Japanese manufacturer Toyota through its Gazoo Racing brand. Toyota returned to F1 in a technical collaboration with Haas in 2024 and the team will be officially known as TGR Haas F1 this year.

Haas will continue to use Ferrari power units, as it has done since it arrived in F1 10 years ago. Komatsu said the priority during pre-season testing will be to understand the impact of the new power unit regulations and how the team can optimise the car’s energy levels.

“Firstly, before we go racing, and even testing, we need to get on top of energy management, that’s the huge one,” he said. “I don’t know if we all understand the full extent of the challenge because we don’t know what we don’t know.

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“Then with aero development, we’re reasonably happy with what we’ve done so far, but as with all new regulations, the question will be, is the target we’ve set good enough? When we get testing, I’m sure we’re going to see different concepts, and if we’ve missed something, we need to get on it very quickly.

“For the first few races, rather than setting a sporting target, it’s more a target for us. First and foremost, get on top of PU management, then aerodynamic development. If we have to change direction or look at different concepts, again, we’ve got to do that promptly.

“To be able to implement certain things quickly, you’ve got to work as a team and have clarity on communication. These are things we’ve been doing the last couple of years, and that’s going to be tested even more, but I feel like we’re prepared.”