Overview
- Audi’s R26 conducts a filming‑day shakedown at Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya with Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto sharing up to 200 km on Pirelli demo tires.
- Audi plans a Berlin livery reveal on January 20, further private running in Barcelona later this month, and official Bahrain tests on February 11–13 and 18–20.
- The team confirmed a successful power‑unit fire‑up in Hinwil on December 19, moving from bench integration to full car systems checks.
- F1’s 2026 supplier grid is set: Mercedes (Alpine, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams), Ferrari (Ferrari, Cadillac, Haas), Red Bull/Ford (Red Bull, Racing Bulls), Audi (Audi), Honda (Aston Martin).
- Ferrari has shifted development toward a steel‑alloy cylinder head tested with AVL, pursuing combustion efficiency and durability with packaging gains from smaller cooling packs and a compact battery.