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The Formula One bandwagon is starting to roll its wheels as the first team has revealed its challenger for 2019 ahead of pre-season testing, which starts next week in Barcelona.
Haas have offered a first look at F1 2019 by revealing a striking black and gold livery for the new season.
The dramatic colour change for the American-owned team comes on the back of a title sponsorship deal with Rich Energy, a British energy drinks company and the firm has targetted challenging Red Bull ‘on and off track’.
The new look was unveiled at an event in London, and the VF-19 will be seen for the first time at winter testing which takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya from Monday to February 21.
“This is the time of the season when you hope you’ve got designs right and you can be competitive straight away,” said Gene Haas, the team’s founder and chairman.
“The new car looks distinctive, not only in terms of its colour scheme, but also with the new regulations in play. Hopefully, those design changes brought in for 2019 will improve the racing on-track and, more importantly, give us a shot at making more of an impact at each grand prix.”
Haas are one of only two teams to retain their driver line-up from last season, with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in tandem for the third campaign in a row.
The team, based in the quaint English town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, enjoyed their best-ever F1 season last year, just missing out on fourth after a close battle with Renault, and have improved in every campaign since joining the sport in 2016.
William Storey, the chief executive of Rich Energy, grabbed headlines at the launch by saying: “We’re looking forward to taking Red Bull on both on and off the track”, with his company competing in the same energy drinks market as the global brand.
“Formula 1 is a wonderful platform for us and we’re with the best run team in my opinion and, equally importantly, lovely people,” said Storey. “We’re delighted to work with Haas and we want to do it on a very long-term basis.
“Red Bull is a brilliantly-run business, Dietrich Mateschitz is a very clever guy and created a category in 1987, but we feel we have a better product and a better brand. We feel we have a really good opportunity to beat them, off the track.”
Haas revealed their new livery on last year’s car, though it was fitted with a new-for-2019 front wing. A number of changes will be seen on cars as they continue to roll out this week.
The new front wing is 200mm wider, but has also been simplified in order to reduce turbulence. That should mean the cars can race closer together, thus increasing the chances of overtaking.
The FIA, the sport’s governing body, are also hoping for a low ‘outwash’ potential - meaning less air is directed outside the wheels. If that’s the case, the car behind will be able to get more grip to go through corners faster.
A simplified front brake duct will work in tandem with the front wing, and the surface available for aerodynamic exploitation has been reduced. The change encourages designers to use the ducts for cooling, rather than aerodynamic gain.
The banning of ‘blown axles’, featured on the Ferrari and Red Bull cars from last year, will further smooth the airflow.
Finally, the taller, wider and simpler rear wings should generate more downforce at the back of the cars and improve airflow, allowing drivers to slipstream the cars in front more effectively.
The rear wings can also now be fitted with a higher flap, which could increase the strength and power of DRS by 25 per cent.
Fans will be eagerly anticipating the launches of the ‘big teams’, with Mercedes and Red Bull to show off their new mean machines today, McLaren tomorrow and Ferrari on Friday.
