First Audi F1 design details spotted as early F1 2026 tech trend emerges

The new-look Audi F1 team has adopted a double-pushrod suspension with its F1 2026 car, it has emerged.

It comes amid rumours that Ferrari and Red Bull are set to follow the same development path with their new cars for 2026.

Double pushrod suspension spotted on Audi F1 2026 car in shakedown run

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Audi became the first team to take to the track with its F1 2026 car on Friday as the German manufacturer held a filming day with the new R26 in Barcelona.

The team was restricted to a maximum of 200 kilometres – the equivalent of 42 laps – at the venue of the newly renamed Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

On Friday, footage filmed by a fan watching trackside circulated widely on social media as the Audi took to the track in an all-black livery.

And PlanetF1.com technical editor Matt Somerfield has confirmed that the R26 features pushrod suspension at both the front and rear of the car.

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A double-pushrod suspension is expected to be one of the main technical trends of the 2026 season as the sport moves away from the ground-effect machinery in use between 2022 and 2025.

F1’s technical regulations have been overhauled for 2026 – a rare instance of the chassis and engine rules simultaneously – as the sport embraces 50 per cent electrification, fully sustainable fuels and active aerodynamics.

Pushrod suspension is thought to offer greater predictability in the car’s handling under the new rules than the pullrod alternative, with the layout also bringing benefits in terms of the packaging of the complex new power units.

It emerged in November that Ferrari is set to have a double-pushrod suspension on its new car for 2026.

If true, the new SF-26 will be the first Ferrari F1 machine to feature a pushrod suspension at the rear since the F10, driven in competition by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, in 2010.

Meanwhile, a report in Italy last month claimed that Red Bull is set to go down the double-pushrod route with its new RB22 car.

It is expected that more teams will adopt a pushrod suspension for F1’s new era.

Audi’s shakedown on Friday came a full 17 days before the start of F1’s first pre-season test in Barcelona, which will be held behind closed doors across January 26-30.

The German manufacturer will officially launch the R26 at an event in Berlin on January 20.

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