Let’s see what’s under the hood!
Haas, the American F1 Team has become the first in line to reveal the design and livery for their brand new F1 car of 2022. They are also the first team to do so under new technical regulations imposed to improve racing.
On Friday, the highly anticipated VF-22 was revealed to the world along with great hopes and expectations for the team. Let’s see what is known about the brand new car so far.
The Design of VF-22
Hass’ VF-22 car has retained its red, white, and blue livery design which was adopted by the team last year after the arrival of Uralkali, the title sponsor. Uralkali also happens to be the principal backer of driver Nikita Mazepin.
The most striking features in the VF-22 are its visual features that highlight clear-looking wings in the front and rear. That combined with the newest addition of underbody “ground effects” downforce-producing tunnels are an endeavor to reduce wake turbulence that will allow the race cars to stay together on the curves in the track.
Wake turbulence also provides more opportunities to pass the opponents in the race. The improved aerodynamics can be seen from the latest pictures.
The Drag Reduction System (DRS) is still present in the racecars. The DRS allows drivers to stall the rear wing of their vehicle which helps them reduce drag and gain approx. 10-15 mph passing advantage at certain sectors of the race track.
The wheels on the cars were switched from 13 to 18 inches to increase grip and durability. The engines are following the same formula as last year of 1.6 liters turbocharged V6 hybrid formula.
Newer and Better
Haas ended up finishing at last place last year with no points bagged. That is why the team decided not to develop their car back then and instead decided to put everything on this year’s car to achieve better results this year.
Owner Gene Haas said in a statement: “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 the track. We made the decision back in 2020 to 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.”
Guenther Steiner, the team Principal had high hopes this year and said: “We all know what the team is capable of, we’ve proved that in the past, and with this new car – born out of a completely new set of regulations and with our new design team in place – I’m confident we can showcase once again that we can compete on weekends.”
The drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will be returning for the sixth season. The track session of new cars takes place from Feb 23 to 25 in Spain.