The Audi team brought a heavily redesigned R26 car to the first round of testing in Bahrain, which stands out across the entire grid with its uniquely constructed sidepods. Mattia Binotto spoke openly about the introduction of the “B” version of the Audi car.
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The Audi R26 was the first car to take to the track this year, as they had a filming day at the track near Barcelona as early as January 9th. The car they used during the first round of pre-season testing in Barcelona did not stand out. It was a very classic design that looked interesting in some areas and had more refined aerodynamic solutions. However, it was not a car worth a detailed analysis; there were many much more interesting designs at the time. The situation changed 180 degrees during the first round of testing in Bahrain. Audi brought a completely redesigned car without any prior announcement. At the current stage of the season, i.e., after two rounds of testing, there was no other team that introduced such major changes to its car. Several teams are preparing larger update packages for the final round of testing, so we should see other interesting solutions then.
During the tests, Mattia Binotto openly called the set of updates introduced by his team in Bahrain the “B” version of the car. Audi approached the preparations in a thoughtful way. It turns out that the first car they used on the filming day and at the tests in Barcelona was built from parts manufactured 100% in 2025, so the cost was attributed to the previous year (Source: AMuS). The car that went out for testing in Bahrain is already this year’s design. Audi thus did what several teams suggested many months ago: they prepared a classic and simple car intended mainly for engine testing at the beginning, and then the target car for real competition.
Unique sidepods on the Audi R26 car
The first thing that catches the eye when looking at the Audi R26 car is the sidepods, which have been completely redesigned. Partially, it is a similar concept to the “zeropod” solution at Mercedes in 2022, but Audi has come up with something of its own. The side radiator inlets are rectangular and vertical, which distinguishes them across the entire grid of this year’s cars. The sidepod section around these inlets gives the impression of being concave, and behind them, more classic solutions appear. How concave and slimmed down the front part of the sidepods is, is evidenced by a protruding element. This is the crash zone mandatory in every car. The Mercedes concept in 2022 was more radical and proved unsuccessful mainly due to the floor construction regulations in force at the time. In the current regulations, this will no longer be a problem, but Audi’s solution is also not as revolutionary. The front part is heavily narrowed, but later it widens significantly, and in the upper part, it lowers towards the diffuser. Among the other teams, solutions with a horizontal inlet to the side radiators and a significant undercut of the sidepods from the floor side dominate. In the Audi, there is no such undercut at all. Audi certainly had to heavily redesign the power unit cooling.
Audi R26 car at the first round of testing in Bahrain – photo gallery
Source: Audi Revolut F1 Team
Audi also brought a completely changed front wing to Bahrain with very large elements for moving its flaps in the middle. The introduction of unique side radiator inlets allowed for a complete redesign of the start of the floor below, as well as the side deflectors, i.e., bargeboards. They also had to prepare different mirror mounts because the sidepod section where it should have been mounted disappeared, so an additional long connector was introduced. The diffuser area is nicely developed, interesting solutions appear there, but there is a lack of high-quality photos that I could use.
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A unique element in the Audi R26 is also the mechanism for moving the rear wing flaps. A few days ago, I mentioned that the Alpine A526 stands out across the entire grid because their wing flaps are lowered, while in the rest of the cars they are raised (like the DRS system). It turned out that Audi has yet another solution. In their case, the mechanism moving the flaps is attached to the middle flap, which means that the upper flap is lowered and the middle one is raised. A cool comparison video can be seen on the F1 profile on X – Link.
Summary
The introduction of the new car by Audi brought a noticeable improvement. During the first tests in Bahrain, Audi placed in the middle of the pack in terms of laps completed, performing much better than in Barcelona. In terms of lap times, they were also around the middle of the pack. The gaps to the leaders are significant, but Audi is not thinking about competing at the front this year. The entire project of this team is planned for five years; in 2030, they are to compete for the championship. Currently, the expansion and modernization of the factory in Hinwil are underway, and new people are being hired. They are debuting in F1 with their own engine, which is a great challenge. At this point, it looks like Audi will perform very decently in 2026; they will be in the second half of the grid, but there is no danger of them being at the back. This is a very good starting position for improvement during the season and in subsequent years.
According to unofficial reports, Audi is to start the season with a car that does not exceed the minimum weight. They approached the car’s construction similarly to 2022, when as Alfa Romeo they also started the season with a light car, which gave them an advantage at the beginning.
Complete information about all Formula 1 car presentations for the 2026 season can be found in a special summary here. You will find dates, details, photos, and links to reviews of all presentations there.
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