Haas Car Launch – roundtable.io
Haas’ 2026 design features their typical colors of red, black, and white. This years’ livery is mainly white, a contrast to years past where more black was featured. It also features bigger branding from Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR), as the has expanded their deal with Haas to being a title partnership.
Their reveal, much like Red Bull’s and VCARB’s, gives a peek into the look on the cars with the new regulations. With a smaller chassis and new power unit rules comes lighter cars and, hopefully, more dynamic racing.
With Barcelona Shakedown week and Preseason Testing coming up, Haas’ owner, Gene Haas, is focused on how crucial the preseason will be to see what the cars are capable of. It is also important for the drivers, engineers, and teams to see how they adapt to the new car.
Gene Haas also highlights how their continuity in their team members gives them a sort of advantage. Having the same drivers, and design and engineering teams helps in that there are less variables changing, and possibly a higher chance of success. With the midfield being as competitive as it was last year, any advantage and development that can be made, can make a huge difference.
Ayao Komatsu, Haas Team Principal, mentions how they are fully focused on Shakedown Week. He also says “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.”
This weekend, Haas will make their way to Barcelona for Shakedown Week, where the cars head out on track for the first time at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on January 26th. Shakedown Week is five days of private testing where the teams can run cars on three of the five days. After Shakedown Week, teams will head to Bahrain for official preseason testing on February 11-13 and 18-20.
Komatsu mentions how the cars we see at Shakedown week and even preseason testing will not be the same as what we see at the first race of the season in Australia. He says “it is simply too early” for the cars to be fully developed and that teams won’t stop wind tunnel development. In Barcelona, teams will be focused on how to optimize energy usage, which needs to develop quickly for everyone.
