Haas 2026 Car Launch: Balancing tradition and a sleek new look
- Meghana Sree
- 30 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Haas is the latest F1 team to launch their 2026 car, complete with their signature red, black and white palette creating a glossy new livery for the American team.
Following the launch of Red Bull and Racing Bulls’ striking colours for the 2026 season, Haas is the most recent team to give fans a first look at their car for the start of a new era.
After initially planning to unveil the VF-26 on 23rd January but later rescheduling on account of two other teams also launching that day, Haas revealed their 2026 challenger today across their digital platforms, as has been an understated tradition for the team in recent years.
The series of images and renders depict the team's bold approach this year opting for a predominantly white-painted livery, with red and black accents streaking alongside the side-pods of the car.
The splashes of red and black continue on the front and rear wings, creating a balanced, cohesive look for the VF-26. Haas' livery this year is a firm departure from their 2025 machinery — which exposed more carbon-fibre along the sides — and seamlessly incorporates their signature colours that stand out against the pearly white background.
The American outfit pulled up to the 2025 season with an all-new line-up, Esteban Ocon switching over from Alpine and Oliver Bearman making his Formula One debut. Both drivers contributed evenly to the team’s final result of eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, and though this position seems insignificant relative to their rivals, it has been a huge step forward for the team in terms of points collected — 79 compared to their 58 from 2024.
Going into 2026, the team will be eager to build on this momentum. Supported by a newly strengthened partnership with their title sponsor Toyota and Ayao Komatsu at the helm in his third year as team principal, Haas aims to return as a key frontrunner in the mid-field this year.
With the launch of the car, Komatsu shared: "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.
“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.”
Ocon also gave his thoughts on the season ahead, adding: "This is definitely the biggest rule change I’ve ever faced. [...] We need to learn everything new again, so I think the experience helps to adapt quickly, but we need to adapt everything. All of our senses, how we feel, we’ll need to think a lot more while driving about what to do, to go quicker. It’s exciting, and it’s going to be interesting.”
Bearman, now entering his sophomore year in F1, commented on the unknowns of this season, remarking: "It’s impossible to gauge where we're going to be right now. Everything I'm seeing from the team is positive, but we don't know how we stack up, and we won’t know until qualifying in Australia.
"Even then, I feel like in the first few races reliability is going to be playing a big factor. There are going to be teams and people making mistakes with these new regulations. It's going to be tough to establish a true pecking order.”
Haas continues its power unit partnership with Ferrari in 2026, and heads into a new era of technical regulations with carefully guarded hopes. Towards the end of the 2025 season, Bearman expressed optimism for 2026, sharing: “I’m excited to see how next year’s car drives,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be interesting – also to see the challenges that it throws up at us.
“All of the lessons learnt across the previous two eras of car are being put into practice on the new one. We’ve been bringing upgrades and bringing performance recently, which shows that the aerodynamics team is working very well.
“It’s a challenge for everyone, but hopefully we’ll have a quick car and we can fight at the front. That’s the plan!”
With their car launch in the books, Haas will have their targets set on the first shakedown in Barcelona from 26th to 30th January, before the next two rounds of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
This week also has more launches in store, with Audi, Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine all set to reveal their 2026 paint as well ahead of the private test in Barcelona.
