Rich Energy Haas F1 Team unveiled its new look for the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship with a livery launch hosted at the Royal Automobile Club in London.
The new chassis (VF-19) will be driven by Romain Grosjean (France) and Kevin Magnussen (Norway).
“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, founder of Haas Automation and chairman of Rich Energy Haas F1 Team.
“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.”
Team principal Guenther Steiner said: “It’s important that we keep progressing as a team, and this season is no different. While 2018 delivered our best season to-date, the year showed, sometimes sharply, that we still have areas to improve on as a team. On-track, our push for performance started early with the VF-19, our next step is to get to Spain and utilize our time there wisely to prepare for Australia.”
The simplified front wing is evident, now 200mm wider and 20mm higher – designed to allow drivers to follow each other more closely and increase the possibility of overtaking. Similarly, the rear wing has been made simpler, as well as 20mm higher and 100mm wider, to aid slipstreaming and promote closer racing.
Smaller, repositioned barge boards are also visible, reduced in height by 150mm and moved forward by 100mm, these have been designed to improve air flow from the front wing making them less aerodynamically disruptive.