Haas has become the first Formula One team to release images of its 2022 car ahead of the upcoming season.
Built to the sport’s new technical regulations, the Haas VF22 is a dramatic departure from last year’s car with all new design concepts mandated by F1 and the FIA to improve wheel-to-wheel racing.
The new Haas resembles the concept car released by F1 last year, but has subtle differences around the nose, sidepods and floor area, which are likely to be areas of differentiation across all cars this year.
However, the images released by Haas were only computer renderings of the VF22, with more detail and design elements likely to follow when the actual car hits the track later this month.
“How different it looks in Barcelona [at testing], you will see in two weeks,” Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said. “It will be a little bit different obviously.
“We are not saying now it will be exactly the same because this is a stage of development. We don’t want to define it, but it is going in that direction.”
Haas made a decision last season to commit all of its resources to its 2022 car, foregoing any meaningful development of its 2021 car.
Steiner hopes the decision will result in a return to the points this season after Haas finished in last place with zero points in 2021.
“It’s that time of year where you’re naturally optimistic that the hard work and effort of everyone will translate to a competitive entry on track,” Steiner said.
“We made the decision back in 2020 to really channel time and resources into the VF-22, foregoing anything track-related for 2021 — which wasn’t easy to watch. Hopefully that decision bears fruit and we return to challenging for points and taking something from the weekends.”
The car is powered by a Ferrari engine and continues to draw other components, including the gearbox, from the Italian team.
It is also the first Haas to be designed by the team’s new Maranello design department, which was set up last year to focus on the 2022 design and features 35 employees, many of which are on secondment from Ferrari.
The VF22 design was led by former Ferrari engineer Simone Resta, who joined Haas at the end of 2020 as technical director.
“From a supply parameter point of view we try to maximise all the opportunities with Ferrari, we are the smallest team on the grid, so therefore for us it’s important to maximise the opportunities,” Resta said.
“The regulations have changed, in a measurable way between last year and this year, with new components and specifications etc, so actually you can purchase from Ferrari fewer things in slightly different parameter but in short we are trying to take everything possible within the regulations.”
Resta said the images of the VF22 may look similar to the F1 concept car released last year, but that minor details would be a big differentiator in performance between teams.
“Clearly, as we mentioned many times, the amount of freedom that the new technical regulations give you is reduced compared to the past, so in a way, looking at all the cars painted in the same way, you will probably see fewer differences than in the past,” he said. “Nevertheless, there is still a lot of potential to change shapes — some more in some areas than other areas — but the way the regulations are, it is fair to say, there is a lot of potential in the details.
“Sometimes you say the devil is in the detail, and there is a lot of potential to improve things even if they don’t look dramatically different from one to another. But there is still a lot of potential to improve the car and extract performance.”
The Haas VF22 is due to hit the track at the first test of the new season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain from February 23 to 25.
Source: www.espn.com