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American outfit Haas were the first team to release images of their 2018 Formula 1 car and they remain confident of catching up with the sport’s leading contenders, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Haas, who finished eighth last season, published digital images of the VF-18 last week, which they hope will enable them to ‘close the gap to the top teams’.
The VF-18 is an evolution of the team’s second car. Forty-seven points were scored during Haas F1 Team’s ‘sophomore season’, 18 points more than the total earned in the organisation’s debut in 2016.
“The biggest part of the car’s evolution was the addition of the halo,” said Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team. “It took quite a bit of study by the aerodynamicists, but the designers had to work hard to modify the chassis so the halo could survive the mandated loads.
“The total minimum weight of the car increased because of the halo, and there’s a higher centre of gravity simply because of the halo’s position. But, everyone is in the same boat.
“The regulations stayed pretty stable between 2017 and 2018, so the VF-18 is an evolution of our car from last year. It’s less about reinvention and more about refinement. You see elements we had from last year on the car this year.
“Our 2017 car was actually pretty good, but we didn’t always get the best out of it, and that’s what we aimed to change in 2018. We got the car as light as possible to carry more ballast. We were able to do a better job of putting the weight where we wanted it.”
Incorporating VF into the name of the car is a nod to the history of the team’s title sponsor. The first machine manufactured by machine tool maker Haas Automation was the VF-1 in 1988. The V stands for vertical, which is an industry standard designation for a vertical mill. Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation, added F1 to the name to unofficially designate it as the company’s ‘Very First One’.
Haas, whose F1 entry in 2016, became them the first American Formula One team since 1986. “We have eliminated a lot of the variables where we knew we were weak,” Haas said. “We’ve focused on what it’s going to take to get our car to be consistent and close that gap to the top teams.”
Beyond refinement and the halo challenge, the VF-18 also carries a drastic reduction in the shark fin. The VF-18 tests at Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya from Monday until March 1 and again from March 6-9 before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 25 in Melbourne.
Haas continue this coming season with drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen and using latest-specification Ferrari engines.
The season starts with the Australian Grand Prix on March 23-25 March, with two, four-day pre-season tests on Monday to March 1and March 6-9, before moving on to Bahrain’s April date.
And Grosjean will particularly be looking forward to race two as he boasts a positive track record in the kingdom and is bullish on keeping the good stats coming.
Grosjean has scored points in five of his six career F1 starts at Bahrain. His best finish is third, earned twice in back-to-back seasons in 2012 and 2013.
“I love the track in Bahrain,” admitted the Haas driver. “On paper, it doesn’t look like the most exciting one, but driving it is pretty good fun. Big braking – I brake late. I love braking hard and late.
“It probably explains why my qualifying sessions in 2012 and 2013, I could have done better. The car was pretty good on tyres in the race. It’s hard on tyres as well, but I was good with that, probably another thing that helped. I love racing in Bahrain.”
Last year Grosjean scored his first points of the season for Haas with eighth place in Bahrain, although Magnussen was forced to retire early.
Grosjean made the most of an eventful race for the midfield runners, surviving the chaos of close-quarters racing. In a post-race interview, he said. “It’s good to be here scoring points.”
F1 TIMINGS
Formula One has made two changes to the weekend time schedule for its 21 races this season.
The races will all start at 10 minutes past the hour, with most of the European events beginning at 3.10pm. The big day/night grand prix in Bahrain on Sunday, April 8, the second race of the season, will start at 5.10pm.
F1 says the decision was made to better suit television schedules because ‘broadcasters usually go on air precisely on the hour, hence missing the tension and emotion that characterise the minutes before the start of each grand prix’.
The weekend timetable at European and Brazilian races will also be moved back an hour in a bid to help attract a larger television audience. F1 says ‘other minor adjustments have been made in order to avoid clashes with other major sports events like the FIFA World Cup’.
