They say you should believe nothing that you hear, and only half of what you see.
But in an era of AI-generated images and fast-moving social media, anything put in front of your eyes these days always needs to be double-checked – and then checked again.
This state of affairs hit Formula 1 on Friday, as some social media accounts and even media outlets went into overdrive about what were claimed to be the first images of a 2026 car as Audi conducted a filming day run at Barcelona in Spain.
Things had already got going early on after some genuine video footage of the Audi car running, taken from a distance and outside the confines of the circuit, appeared shortly after midday.
But while the noise of the Audi engine was good (so something you could believe) the car was small in the frame, so it was hard to see details.
La prima monoposto 2026 e’ Audi che sta girando al Montmelo’. #F1 #AudiF1 #ShakeDown pic.twitter.com/5sNcSE2Bx9
— RobertoF1 (@robertofunoat) January 9, 2026
Soon after though, a still image of a black car taking a slightly weird angle through a corner appeared on some social media accounts and was claimed to be a better spy shot of the Audi.
It did not take long for a second image to get published which appeared to be from the same angle but in much higher definition.
While the images quickly got reposted and shared around, as many thought they were genuine, a pause of breath was enough to prompt serious doubts about them being real.
The crisper image had all the hallmarks of being an AI-enhanced version of the original – with strange shadows, the driver's helmet not visible in the cockpit, plus some weird bodywork around the front.
But the ultimate giveaway was the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya sign in the background – which AI had clearly rehashed and turned into some weird language as ‘dataset’.
The grainy image itself also did not make much sense either.
The shadows looked better, but it seemed illogical that Audi would be running with a car featuring the front wheel shrouds that are not part of the 2026 rules. The front wing also did not appear to be for the forthcoming rules set.
But there were some other giveaways in the image too that showed it to be almost certainly totally fake – and this came from the track itself.
The same sign that had been corrupted in the enhanced image did not look right – it was compressed.
Furthermore, the location seemed suspect – as the profile of the kerbs, the green areas behind them and between the grass, allied to the nature of the run-off area behind, are not typical of current Barcelona.
Most of the inside apex kerbs at the Spanish GP venue are painted red, as are a lot of the run off areas on the outside. In the fake image, they are both green.
At best guess, based on looking at old photographs, the track image is potentially either a few years old (so the original background image was not from today), or it has even had to be flipped – so could for example be somewhere in the final sector.
It may not even be from Barcelona at all – and the black car itself could have been doctored from Cadillac's Ferrari test that Sergio Perez did last year.
Where the original fake image came from may never be known for sure, but the appearance of proper video of the Audi car that appeared later on proved beyond doubt the stills were fake – as neither of them featured some logos that were fitted on the car.
But by the time this late footage appeared, it was many hours after the fake shots had been grabbed and run with by many – spreading disinformation in a lot of places.
Battling the fake news
On a day when a single car is running, such fake news is only really a problem for the team involved – and there is probably an argument that it is no bad thing as all news is good news.
After all, it has kept attention on the Audi squad for an entire day with no effort on its part.
However, ahead of F1 electing to hold the first 2026 pre-season test behind closed doors at Barcelona later this month, what has happened with Audi should act as a warning about the potential falsehoods that are going to be spread over that first week of action when there are 11 teams running.
With no media, independent television crews nor photographers allowed in, reliable images and reporting from people on the ground about what is taking place is not going to be forthcoming.
And the clamour for information is going to be so much more than it was for the Audi shakedown.
Getting accurate information about what is happening will not be the work of the moment, and, as the famous saying goes, the lies will likely have travelled halfway around the world before the truth has got its shoes on.
Plus, the sensational fake stuff may get much more attention than the mundane reality of what is almost certainly going to be a Barcelona test focused on reliability running.
What the Audi fake images have shown is that the slow pace of gathering real photographs, proper facts and the checking of information during the Barcelona week will open the door for social media to be filled with instant fake news, AI slop and sensational claims that are only rebuffed hours later.
F1's narrative could find itself being taken in some strange places.
Whether that is a good thing or not for F1, ahead of a season where there is huge intrigue and excitement about new rules remains to be seen, but the first running of the 2026 cars is going to be a hugely frustrating time for fans and media who care about what is really happening.
