Haas F1 Team Brings Back Roots with Renewed Outlook

After not reaching the success that they wanted last season, it’s no secret that Haas F1 team is hoping for a stronger 2020. Perhaps a touch from their beginnings will help in making that happen.

Despite not being set to reveal the VF-20 officially until the morning before testing, digital renderings were released of the livery. Notably, it’s a throwback to where everything began four years ago.

“I’m pleased to see the car return to the more familiar Haas Automation colours. It’s certainly a livery that people identify with,” Gene Haas said. “It’s important to me that we’re back in the mix and consistently scoring points. We certainly have the capability, and we’ve proved as an organisation we can do it.”

When Haas revealed the Americans were going racing internationally, there was a lot of hope and optimism for the future in what could be for the United States racing scene, driver market potential, and creating a stronger international presence.

Although the Circuit of the Americas has opened up to give Formula 1 a circuit to visit in the U.S., Haas has yet to reach the success that he had originally envisioned. They initially showed progress with a fifth-place finish in the constructor’s championship a couple years ago, but placed ninth in 2019 with a car that Romain Grosjean deemed was not even good enough for a museum.

“We’ve been through a real education process, one that comes to all Formula One teams at some stage,” Haas said. “I’m trusting we’ve learned from those lessons and have applied that knowledge into making the VF-20 a more competitive entry.

The new car brings forth optimism for the future with Team Principal Guenther Steiner feeling the team has made the right adjustments to their car to correct the aerodynamic instability issues they encountered last year.

“It’s always exciting to see the development of a new Formula One car and undoubtedly the VF-20 has to deliver where our previous car didn’t,” said Steiner. “With the regulations remaining stable into this season, it’s allowed us to improve our understanding of the car and to scrutinize ourselves more in order to find solutions and applications to channel into the design of the VF-20.

“Last year was definitely a set-back, one I would never have asked for, but you learn from such situations – we all have. Everybody at the team was forced to look at themselves and understand what they can do better. I’m looking forward to seeing the VF-20 make its track debut. As always in testing, you want many things, but lots of mileage, reliability and speed would be welcomed as we ready ourselves for the first race in Australia.”

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