The Haas F1 Team did impressively well last year. It finished its debut season in eighth place, beating Renault, Sauber, and Manor. That’s the best any new F1 team has done on its debut since the turn of the millennium. It aims to do even better this year, and this is the car with which it aims to do so.
Called the VF-17, the team’s second successive design is a radical departure from the first: “I think the pedal box is the same, but all the rest is very different from last year’s car,” said team principal Guenther Steiner. “Aesthetically, the car has a more aggressive look. It’s lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. Everything we learned from our
first car has been applied to our new car.”
The overhaul comes largely as a result in the new technical regulations instituted for this season, which include enlarged front wing, barge boards, rear wing and diffuser for increased downforce compared to last year’s cars, as well as wider tires for more mechanical grip.
The livery is made up of the same shades and red accents, but this time takes up grey as the dominant color. There’s also a prominent vertical fin like some (but not all) of the teams on the grid have adopted for the new season ahead.
Having moved over last season, Romain Grosjean is joined Kevin Magnussen (also from Renault) this season. With experience at front-running teams, both drivers bring expertise to Haas where other newcomer outfits have had to make do with inexperienced rookies, and their faith in the Ferrari-backed American team (the first on the grid since the 1980s) speaks volumes about Haas’ prospects.
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