Photo: Race Pictures

F1 Today | Hamilton’s race engineer future set as Audi hit the track in Barcelona

22:59, 08 Jan

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byTobia Elia

Exclusive news on Ferrari, and Audi's shakedown plans revealed: recap the best stories of the day with GPblog!

Audi ready to debut the R26 in Barcelona filming day

Audi is set to tick off a world-first milestone ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

With around three weeks still to go before all the cars run together, Audi will carry out its first filming day of the season tomorrow. The RS26 — the brand’s first-ever Formula 1 car — will make its on-track debut in Barcelona, which will also host pre-season testing at the end of January.

As per filming day regulations, running will be limited to a maximum of 200 kilometres, with the car fitted with special Pirelli demonstration tyres rather than the compounds scheduled for use during the 2026 campaign. The car’s official presentation, meanwhile, is scheduled to take place on January 20 in Berlin.

Photo: Audi MediaCenter

Ferrari decides future of Hamilton’s race engineer for 2026

GPblog has learned that Riccardo Adami will continue as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer. No changes are expected on the other side of the garage either, with Charles Leclerc retaining the same set-up as last season.

While Ferrari will formally confirm its internal roles at a later date, as GPblog understands, the driver–race engineer pairings will remain unchanged.

Last season, the Italian engineer often found himself at the centre of media attention due to several radio miscommunications with the seven-time world champion, with a number of those exchanges going viral on social media.

Photo: Race Pictures

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