Haas completed the maiden laps of the VF-26 at Ferrari’s Fiorano test circuit, with Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman driving and teammate Esteban Ocon observing. The run produced the first on-track images after the car’s online launch earlier this week, including a photo captioned ‘The VF-26 is alive’ showing Bearman leaving a Shell-branded garage on Pirelli intermediate (demonstration) tyres. The VF-26 carried prominent Toyota Gazoo Racing branding during the outing.

Haas described the activity as a shakedown to collect vital data and perform systems checks ahead of the official pre-season Barcelona test, scheduled for Jan. 26–30. The team did not clarify whether the Fiorano running fell under a filming-day allowance (which permits up to 200 km) or a shorter demonstration run (up to 15 km), leaving some procedural details unspecified.

Team principal Ayao Komatsu said Haas will bring a different specification to Barcelona than the car it plans to race in Australia and stressed an aggressive development program as the team adapts to 2026 technical priorities, including the roughly 50:50 split between internal combustion and hybrid power. Komatsu reaffirmed that Haas’s foundational technical relationship with Ferrari — including use of Ferrari power units — remains intact despite the new title partnership and strengthened technical alliance with Toyota, and he emphasized there will be no crossover between the two teams’ technical programmes. Haas positioned the Fiorano outing as an important early step in preparing the VF-26 and the team’s programme for the new technical era.

Sources