GP4: 2026 F1 release: Haas and McLaren

Today I’m excited to share the latest additions to the 2026 grid: the McLaren MCL40 and the Haas VF-26.

As mentioned previously, this year’s cars have been split between myself, Excalibur, and Isaint—so this release marks my final contribution to the 2026 lineup. Huge thanks to Excalibur for the outstanding work on the new wheels and rims; they really elevate the overall look of the cars. You may also spot an early preview of the 2026 helmets, with a full release to follow once they’re complete.

McLaren MCL40

The McLaren team continue to use the benchmark Mercedes power unit and having not had an ideal start to the season, nevertheless showed a competitive outing at the recent Japanese Grand Prix.

It was a refreshing change to work on something closer to the sharp end of the grid—my earlier allocations seemed firmly rooted at the back!

Haas VF-26

The Toyota backed Haas team have fared well in the midfield, with some reasonably strong showings so far. Nothing spectacular, just good solid progress with capable drivers behind the wheel. 

After many years of quite bland and dull liveries, the Gazoo Racing effect has produced once of the better looking liveries on the grid. 

As with my previous release, you will find the internal cockpit shape for each car, along with the collision mesh file.

In the background, work has begun in compiling a mod, and when all the cars, helmets and a good set of physics are shared, I will release a CSM and a non-CSM version of the mod. Until then, I hope you enjoy these new additions to the 2026 grid.

Happy racing! 

2026 Haas VF-26 & McLaren MCL40

by fongu

Download

Tweaker positions: 

Haas 

[HELMET_POSITIONS] =  0.0000, 0.1790, -0.2140

[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT01_POS] = 0.0000, -0.2080, -2.8500
[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT02_POS] =  0.5600, 0.2936, -2.8433
[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT03_POS] =  -0.5600, 0.2936, -2.8433

[EXTERNAL_STEER_POSITIONS] =  0.0000, 0.0380, -0.0380

[TYRE_POSITIONS_CAR15]
FrontRight      =  0.74000, -0.18000,  1.30000
FrontLeft       = -0.74000, -0.18000,  1.30000
RearRight       =  0.70000, -0.18000, -2.10000
RearLeft        = -0.70000, -0.18000, -2.10000

[ONBOARD_CAMERA]
Cockpit         =  0.0000,  0.1581, -0.3100,    0.0000,  -1.700,  0.0000
TVCockpit = 0.0000, 0.6524, -0.7990, 0.2700, -10.9900, 0.0000

[CAMERA_VIEW_ANGLE]
Cockpit         =   0.1500,   0.0000,   -0.3100,   0.0000
TVCockpit       =   0.2500,   0.2500,   -0.0500,   -10.0000

McLaren 

[HELMET_POSITIONS] =  0.0000, 0.1790, -0.2140

[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT01_POS] =   0.0000, -0.1880, -2.8260

[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT02_POS] =   0.5600, 0.3118, -2.8410

[REAR_LIGHT_AMBIENT03_POS] =  -0.5600, 0.3118, -2.8410

[EXTERNAL_STEER_POSITIONS] =  0.0000, 0.0100, 0.0060

[TYRE_POSITIONS_CAR15]

FrontRight      =  0.74000, -0.18000,  1.30000

FrontLeft       = -0.74000, -0.18000,  1.30000

RearRight       =  0.70000, -0.18000, -2.10000

RearLeft        = -0.70000, -0.18000, -2.10000

[ONBOARD_CAMERA]

Cockpit         =  0.0000,  0.1581, -0.3100,    0.0000,  -1.700,  0.0000

TVCockpit = 0.0000, 0.6524, -0.7990, 0.2700, -10.9900, 0.0000

[CAMERA_VIEW_ANGLE]

Cockpit         =   0.1500,   0.0000,   -0.3100,   0.0000

TVCockpit       =   0.2500,   0.2500,   -0.0500,   -10.0000

GP4: F1 2024 mod v1.7 Christmas update - 2024 cars by fongu

I've got a special release this Christmas, and it comes in the form of the 2024 F1 mod update. 

I know, the last update was only yesterday and it seemed pretty complete, and it is. But this is Christmas, and I'm in a generous mood!

At the beginning of the season, I released the Red Bull RB20, but I've only released a handful of other 2024 cars since then, the McLaren and then the Sauber. 

For this festive season, I want to share with you every car I've made for 2024... and that is every car on the 2024 grid, with a heap of special liveries and track specific logo updates. I couldn't have done it alone, my thanks to GM25, Excalibur (Ferrari) and Paulo Derpich (updates to McLaren and Red Bull) for helping along in this process. 

I'm very appreciative of all the GP4 authors, and in no way do I want to replace any of the existing works already in the mod. But you can run none of my cars, you can run only my cars, or you can mix and match; this mod enables you to select each car author in the CSM menu, giving you hundreds of variations you can try, much like in my 2011 mod. 

Here's a quick preview of what you will get in this update:

Alpine A524

2024 Alpine A524 by fongu for GP4

Alpine ran a number of liveries over the course of the season, tweaking it as the season progressed. The team ran either the pink variant or the blue variant for most Grand Prix. At the final three races of the season, Alpine went 'all pink' with a plain livery. The team also ran two special liveries at the Belgian GP and the USA GP. Both were promotions for the Deadpool vs Wolverine film and the Indiana Jones game. As the livery and logo placements were tweaked through the year, I've attempted to create as many variants as I can. 

Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Aston Martin AMR24 by fongu for GP4

Aston Martin largely ran the same livery and sponsor combinations for most the season, with different partners being featured on the halo at each race (I've not captured all of these minor changes). The team ran additional Aramco colours on their wings at the USA GP, and the last couple of races saw the team run a white rollover hoop. 

2024 Ferrari SF24

2024 Ferrari SF24 by fongu & Excalibur for GP4

Ferrari reintroduced yellow into the main livery to match the endurance racing team, which was a really nice touch. The team gained HP sponsorship from the Miami GP onwards, with a special 'blue' livery ran at the US race. Both Carlos and Leclerc ran slightly different colour halos and car number outlines. The Peroni logo being replaced by Tifosi or Italia in the Middle East races, a nice reminder when the teams in the 1990s were creative with their non-tobacco sponsorship. The Italian GP saw the team celebrate carbon-fibre, and the driver numbers were made black to reflect it. 

This car was created by Excalibur, it's actually his RSCT template car, and I've simply painted on his template and releasing  it now with his blessing. 

Haas VF-24

2024 Haas VF-24 by fongu for GP4

Haas were one of the teams running minimal livery, the car being almost entirely unpainted carbon fibre. For the race in Austin, the team ran a special eagle inspired livery, whilst at the Las Vegas GP, there were more subtle changes made to the car. The team struck a partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing towards the later half of the year and those liveries have been created for this mod. 

Mercedes F1 W15 E Performance

2024 Mercedes F1 W15 E Performance by fongu for GP4

The Mercedes have flicked between all silver or all black in recent years, and this year saw them run both. The red from the Ineos branding remains a constant, with the blue from Petronas becoming more prominent as the season progressed. The only proper special livery was at the Singapore GP where the silver and blue parts of the livery swapped to celebrate Petronas.

Red Bull RB20

2024 Red Bull RB20 by fongu for GP4

Whilst the opening rounds suggested the season may be a foregone conclusion, the team struggled to make the car competitive at every race. It meant that planned special liveries were cancelled except for the British GP where they ran a 'red camo' livery. Thanks again goes to Paulo Derpich for creating some of the other race variants. 

Sauber C44

2024 Sauber C44 by fongu for GP4

I already released the Sauber in the previous mod update. In this update, I've made the Stake logos a little larger and closer to real life. I've also created the flaming Las Vegas GP livery. As it was a night race, I've decided to emphasise how bright the green looks on occasion. 

RB VCARB 01

2024 VCARB by fongu for GP4

VCARB returned to the brighter blue as seen on the later Toro Rosso cars before they were briefly known as Alpha Tauri. The team ran three special liveries during the season, the first at the Miami GP known as the 'bubblegum' livery. At the Singapore GP, they celebrated denim, with ripped jeans look and a massive zip, (reminding some of the 1999 BAR). Having done a number of denim helmets in recent years, getting the effect and stitching wasn't too difficult. And at the Las Vegas GP, the team went all 'glitter' with another bright design. At the Saudi Arabian GP, the team honoured the female team-members with their names featured on the side of the car. 

Williams FW46

2024 Williams FW46 by fongu for GP4

The 2024 Williams continued to run a couple of shades of blue, but with an added touch of heritage with the red and white stripes for their main livery. The team featured the Duracell bunny on the rollover hoop at the Monaco GP, whilst for the British GP they ran a massive Union Flag (technically it's only called the Union Jack when it's on the seas) with team member names written on it. After Logan Sargeant was dropped, the team were bold to call up Franco Colapinto as his replacement and that brought a number of South American backers to the car. This lead to the return of the yellow engine cover, a nod to the late 1980's/early 1990s liveries. 

McLaren MCL38

2024 McLaren MCL38 by fongu for GP4

There's nothing new from me on the McLaren in this update, but Paulo Derpich has complated the late season sponsor merry-go-round and the Mastercard logos becoming more and more prominent with every race. Thanks to him for his hard work making sure every race is accurately represented. Thankfully for me, there's no new special liveries since my release of this car, but for completeness, I wanted to show them off again here. Congratulations to the McLaren team for securing the Constructors' Championship for the first time since 1998. 

Phew, that concludes one of my most ambitious projects I've ever taken on for a current F1 season, along with the entire grid of helmets and a selection of special lids already released, I'm glad to share the complete pack with you on this special day, I hope you enjoy racing these cars with their various liveries through the season. 

Installation Notes

This update requires 2024 F1 mod previously released on this blog here: 
https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/2024/08/gp4-f1-2024-mod-v10.html

• Download both the 2024 CSM mod updates below

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 8 v1.7
CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 9 v1.7
CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 10 v1.7b

• Open CSM
• File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update8_v1.7.cmu
• File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update9_v1.7.cmu
• File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update10_v1.7b.cmu

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Below are some screenshots of the cars in GP4 at the Singapore GP, which featured a number of special liveries. 

GP4: 2023 Haas VF-23 by fongu & Excalibur download

I'm delighted to release another 2023 car, this time in collaboration with Excalibur https://gp4racing.jimdofree.com/. Much like back in 2020, I provided the shape and Excalibur has produced some excellent textures and additional tweaks. 

The VF-23 clearly takes after the 2022 Ferrari F1-75, which was a very competitive car. Whilst this iteration of the Haas has shown flashes of pace in qualifying, sadly it struggles with managing its tyres in the race and often finishes much further down the grid. Still, the team does boast a number of points finishes and at the time of writing is sitting in eighth position in the Constructors' Championship. 

The car, as with all Haas chassis in F1, features a hare, which is simply because the Dutch for hare is Haas. This year it's got the text 'Gene's Machine' written around the hare. 

By my count, this is the last remaining car to be released to complete the 2023 season in GP4. It is also my final contribution to the 2023 season in terms of new cars. 

GP4: Final batch of 2021 helmets

A Happy New Year to all of you.

I never envisioned at the beginning of 2021 that I would end up doing as many helmets as I did. I'm grateful that there are other authors who have released fantastic content to supplement it. Having been a mere novice at Photoshop before, I'm growing in confidence in what I can do, and that's in part pushing myself to produce more and more complicated helmets. Some have come off better than others, I must admit, but this final batch are amongst my best work this season, that's the way that it should be I guess. I've added 9 new helmets for you in this batch of releases.

Valterri Bottas

2021 Valterri Bottas Abu Dhabi Helmet

First up, we have Valterri Botta's helmet for his final race at Mercedes. I've actually enjoyed recreating all of his designs this year, all done by his girlfriend. This one features a messages of thanks in different languages, some career highlights, a number of photos from his achievements with the team, as well as a fitting tribute to Niki Lauda on the back, and a nod to teammate Lewis Hamilton. The top is full of stock art, which I was able to track down was by Anastasia Vintovkina. I even had to mix two fonts together to make up the Danke Mercedes text. 

(mirror)

Charles Leclerc

2021 Charles Leclerc Abu Dhabi GP helmet

This is another busy helmet. I started off by creating a glittery background, and there was just about enough photos for me to recreate the design, with messages of love, the prancing horse of Ferrari and his own name repeated on the top. It was a pleasant enough helmet to make and I think it looks really nice in game. 

(mirror)

Lando Norris

2021 Lando Norris US GP helmet

Two Lando Norris helmets for you. This one is back from the US GP. It looks simple, but with the moon and rust backgrounds, I struggled at the time at the seams. It's not perfect still, but close enough not to notice it. I'm quite pleased with the final result and to get it done, as this was plaguing me sitting in my to do list for a while. 

2021 Lando Norris Abu Dhabi GP Helmet

I was expecting this helmet, which shines and reflects in different ways and in different colours, to be near impossible. But I found a close match to the pattern that Norris used, and I managed to quite quickly put his design together again, I managed to use some of the techniques I've learned this year to put this together. It looks great in GP4, working well with the alpha channels that adds another element to this helmet. In the end, it didn't take as long as I feared, and I'm pleased with the result. 

(mirror)

George Russell

2021 George Russell Abu Dhabi GP Helmet

George Russell, in his final race with Williams, had a plain helmet, along with a new visor strip promoting the new King's Man film, where the team members were able to sign messages directly onto it. Because I did a similar task with Norris's British GP helmet earlier this year, I knew just how to go about this one. All the messages are true to the real lid, although there's a few I had to get creative on placement. The blue also twinkles a bit in the lights. Again, not as bad as I feared, again I'm pleased with the result. 

(mirror)

Mick Schumacher

2021 Mick Schumacher US GP helmet

Two helmets for Mick Schumacher. Like Lando's US helmet, it was hanging over me for the last few races. I attempted to recreate it directly from photos, but there was no good picture of the right side. In the end, after much searching, I found the correct wood stained Texan flag. I also found a close match to the floral embossing. It was just then finding a good match to the rust background, there's three different layers going on there, and I managed to recreate the helmet entirely. From fearing I couldn't do it, I'm really glad I can tick this off, as it was a challenge, but I'm glad it's done and representative of the real thing. 

2021 Mick Schumacher Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Mick went all blue for the final race, with each star representing one member of the Haas staff. The placing of the stars was probably the most complicated thing about this helmet, a fairly easy recreation compared to some of the others in this batch of releases. 
(mirror)

Max Verstappen

I wanted to commemorate Max's first World Championship by making up his helmet. He's driven absolutely brilliantly all year, and he's made less obvious mistakes to Lewis, and though I felt he was over aggressive at times, it doesn't take away from the achievement of beating a 7-times World Champion in probably the marginally better car, to his first World Championship. 

2021 Max Verstappen US GP Helmet

I had his template for his helmet mocked up from his previous liveries, so it wasn't too much trouble to recolour it to his regular design, and add one a few parts. In the US GP, the team ran with Acura branding instead of Honda, so that's all that's different with this helmet really. 

2021 Max Verstappen Abu Dhabi GP Helmet

Max had a thank you Honda logo put onto the back of his helmet for this weekend. He ran it in practice and qualifying, but ran his regular lid in the race. Anyway, I felt it justified it's own helmet, and as I say it's my tribute to his Championship success. 

(mirror)

GP4: Assorted Helmets from USA, Mexico and Brazil

It's been a little while since I last posted some helmets, but there's been a lot of helmets in the last three races and I'm slowly catching up with them. Today I can present you with seven new helmets and one slight update on a previously released lid. 

US GP

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll 2021 US GP Helmet

One of Lance's sponsors held a competition via their app to vote for a helmet design to be used. Designed by Mark Anwar, there were three space themed designs and this Solar System version got the vote. 

Download | (mirror link)

GP4: 2021 US GP Updates Part 1

The US Grand Prix saw no less than 10 special helmets deployed by various drivers, by far the most of any race so far this season (that's if you don't count the first race!). I've been chipping away at recreating them quietly in the background over the past week and I can present to you some of the fruits of my labours. Hopefully the rest of them will be done before the next GP, no promises, but we'll see. 

In no particular order...

George Russell

George Russell  2021 US GP Helmet

First off we have Mercedes bound George Russell, with a new helmet harking back to the Wild West days in America. Designed  by MDM Designs, he said, "Wood and chrome effect thoughtout his standard layout, complete with the Sheriff star now we are in Texas ✍🏻💪🏻" 

It's an interesting choice of pallette, with a slightly orangey brown look.

With this one, I followed the same method I used for Lando's Turkish GP helmet, which saved me a lot of time. Ironically, it's not going to work for me on Lando's US GP helmet, but that's another story. Once I was happy with the layout, I had to create the alpha channel to make all the silver parts shiny.  

Download Link | (mirror)

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo  2021 US GP Helmet

Ricciardo got to honour his hero Dale Earnhardt Sr, the helmet is heavily based on the original lid worn by 'The Intimidator'. Designed by Jens Munser Designs, he says, "The silver/red line on the bottom of Daniel’s helmet is based on the livery of Dale’s No.3 Goodwrench Chevy."

It's the first Danny Ric helmet I've done this year (I didn't do the McLaren Monaco GP specials), but thankfully, as you can see, there's nothing too complicated with this one. The only real challenge was the lightning at the rear of the helmet. With all the matte helmets this year, it's nice this one has a bit of a shine to it. 

Download Link | (mirror)

Nikita Mazepin

Nikita Mazepin  2021 US GP Helmet

Nikita Mazepin sports a US inspired version of his helmet, with a rattlesnake texture in red, the long cattle horns on the Haas logo on the front, a lucky horseshoe on the top and rear, and a cowboy hat on the side Haas logos. Nikita explains, "it's the same orange but with more flouro on a white base this time". 

Having not really departed from his style, I had a good starting point from the previous special helmet I did of his. I was quite happy to find the source clip art of the horseshoe, as there were no good angles of that part of the helmet.  

Download Link | (mirror)

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc  2021 US GP Helmet

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is marking the 20th anniversary of his sponsor, Richard Mille a watch manufacturer, with his helmet.

This helmet follows the style of his early season helmet with subtle changes, so I was able to quickly get the main template done. It was just then a case of adding the clockwork patterns and the top of the helmet after that. I do like the clockwork blueprint effect. 

Download link | (mirror)

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso  2021 US GP Helmet

Following the volcanic eruptions on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Fernando Alonso has had a special design produced which will be auctioned to raise money for those affected. He says, “So I will wear the helmet this weekend. I will launch a platform where people can donate some money and the helmet will be also in an auction on November 4th to raise more money, so each of us can help.”

Another first helmet of the season for me, and the first Fernando Alonso helmet I've painted since 2005 I think. I love this helmet it's simple yet effective, completely different yet still the same usual design especially from a far off. Simple details like the lava forming a heart shape on the rear is a nice touch. It was a little tricky with some of the joins, but I'm really quite happy with how this one turned out. 

Download Link | (mirror)

GP4: Russian GP Updates - Mazepin, Williams, Aston Martin & Mercedes

Helmets: Nikita Mazepin

Just the one helmet to update from the Russian GP (Vettel used his Styrian GP lid again), and it's the first home race for Nikita Mazepin.

Nikita Mazepin 2021 Russian GP Helmet

His helmet is now turned from dayglo red to the colours of the Russian flag, with gold trim. It features names of all the medalists who competed under ROC from the Olympics and the Paralympics. There's also a gold Haas medal at the front. Mazepin uses a Bell helmet, and  I'm ever grateful for Jvinu's Bell helmet and template which is a pleasure to paint on.

(mirror)