The American team showcased the VF-26 through digital renders one week out from Shakedown Week in Barcelona, in what will be the team’s 11th season in the sport, with Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman continuing as its driver pairing.
White now dominates the Haas colour scheme, replacing much of the black used in recent seasons, while red accents are more prominent than before.
The design highlights the team’s new title partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, announced late last year, with TGR branding visible across the engine cover, front wing and halo.
Despite Toyota recently restructuring its wider motorsport branding, the team will continue to compete as TGR Haas F1 Team throughout 2026.
And while the VF-26 shown in renders is expected to evolve rapidly, early images suggest Haas has opted for pushrod suspension at both ends, aligning closely with Ferrari, which will again supply the team’s power unit and key mechanical components.
Haas enters the new regulations cycle in 2026 off the back of its strongest campaign in several years.
The team finished eighth in the 2025 constructors’ championship, scoring 79 points — its highest total since 2018 — in what was a fiercely competitive midfield battle.
That progress has provided optimism as the squad tackles another major reset.
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“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,” team owner Gene Haas said.
“The pre-season will be crucial to understand what these cars are capable of and how the drivers, engineers and teams in general adapt to them.
“We at least have continuity in terms of the drivers, with Ollie and Esteban, as well as in our design and engineering teams.
“Last season’s competition in the midfield was of an exceptionally high standard, it was tough, and we need to go out again and continue to develop – both on and off-track.”
Team principal Ayao Komatsu said the early launch underlined the scale of the task facing teams ahead of the opening race in Melbourne.
“It feels almost a bit surreal to be unveiling a new car this early in the year but it’s not any less exciting venturing into a new F1 campaign – especially one with such a change in regulations,” Komatsu said.
“We’re fully focused on being ready for Shakedown Week 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.
“It goes without saying that after so much talk, we can’t wait to see how these cars will perform and what we’ll face as we then progress through our test programs ahead of Australia.”
Ocon, heading into his second season with Haas, said the team’s upward trajectory has been clear since his arrival.
“I’m excited about this year. This team is really growing, and this team is learning a lot,” Ocon said.
“Since I arrived, there have been a lot of great things that have happened.
“We’re growing the team and welcoming more partners, and it’s very serious how we’re going racing into this year.
“I really hope, and I trust that this team will give us a great tool to be fighting towards the front, and towards the points.”
Bearman added that he was excited to enter his second full season in F1 with the team, saying that he was particularly happy with his progress in the latter stages of 2025.
“I really upped my game, I felt like in the second half of the season, I started to put down some really strong results that I was really happy with, and that was critical for me,” he said.
“I’m excited to continue that this year.”
Haas will run the VF-26 for the first time during the private shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from January 26–30, before heading to Bahrain for official pre-season testing ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on March 6–8.
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