Yesterday news broke 24 hours out that Audi Revolut F1 would be the first Formula 1 team to run its 2026-spec car at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Billed as a “filming day”, the team aimed to log some initial kilometers with both drivers taking a turn at the wheel.
Update: Before we dig into this story, first check out this video. Take the time to turn up the volume. Instagram user @dmitriy_v12 captures a fly-by of the Audi R26 F1 car from the paddock. The engine note bounces off the grand stands and it is spectacular.
What’s a “filming day”? In theory, it’s to grab visuals for team use. Given Formula 1 has such strict caps on testing and associated spending, a filming day is subject to regulations that govern how much can be run and what sort of tires may be used. Specifically, that means a maximum of 200 kilometers of running (about 42 laps of Barcelona) and Pirelli demonstration tires rather than any of the approved 2026 racing compound tires.
It’s reasonable to conclude Audi would use the session to focus on systems checks and acquiring early feedback with both Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto getting time behind the wheel of the car.
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SPIED AT THE TRACK
This was a closed door session with no real photographers other than perhaps team personnel or contractors invited to the test. Even still, it appears some footage was taken and managed to get out and that informs us on what was to be seen despite the Audi Revolut F1 team offering no updates by the time of this writing.
So, what do we know? Well, there’s some video so we now know what it sounds like out on a circuit. That can be viewed above and it centers from a YouTube channel @F1_A_Todo_Gas.
The car spied out on circuit today appears to be all black with some red branding on the upper side of the body. Early accounts state the Audi branding was on the spoiler, though that can’t be seen in these images or footage. In the post embedded here by @formula-aerodynamics that stems from F1 a Todo Gas, it on the main fuselage – apparently a red four-ring logo. Both descriptions are consistent with logos we saw on the R26 Concept.
A story by Express.co.uk suggests the car was a bit of a “mule” and, if so, not all that representative of the actual 2026-spec R26 we’ll see at Grands Prix this season nor likely any official test sessions like the one coming up also at Barcelona. In this case, Express’ sources suggest the main point of today’s session was to get some actual run time on the engine. Notably, Audi ran a press release and social media posts earlier this week of an initial bench fire-up at team HQ in Hinwil, Switzerland even though that actual moment happened back on December 19, 2025.
Beyond these shots, we’ve found a few other theories and spotter analysis. Take for example this one from @f1audisport (a fan account from what I can tell) and @f1wow. If accurate, it seems to identify some design elements such as push-rod front and rear suspension, slightly raised wing nose and rear wing with a double lower mounted support. TBD on whether that’s accurate or that this car is anything more than a mule meant to run the engine while revealing as little as possible about finalized 2026 season aero or design elements.
Update, Audi Sport has posted some of their own initial images from today’s filming day. The shots were shared on images were shared on Instagram and are embedded here.
This story does include AI images – renderings created here specifically for this story. They’re based on taking the R26 concept body, adding more competition specification wheel design than the concept had and adjusting it to look more like the car in these images – all black with red Audi branding. and placing it in backdrops like we’re seeing here of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya seen from earlier today in these images. To be clear, the higher-resolution images in this story are AI generated and watermarked as such for full transparency.