Haas’ 2022 F1 car makes track debut
Haas’ 2022 car has taken to the track for the first time at a filming day at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Like several teams do in preseason, Haas has arrived in Spain several days early ahead of the first preseason test of the year.
Haas was the first team to unveil its 2022 car, although it only revealed digital renderings of what looked like a basic show car rather than a detailed model of the real thing.
On Monday morning its new car rolled out of the garage in Spain with Nikita Mazepin at the wheel. As shown in the renderings released earlier this month the car has retained the red, blue and white colours of Mazepin’s father Dimitry’s company Uralkali, the team’s title sponsor.
Mazepin’s teammate Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael, is expected to get some time in the car later in the day.
Haas effectively wrote off the 2021 season in favour of 2022, deciding to focus most of its attention on this year’s car design.
As a result, the American team appears to have a fairly detailed design, especially towards the back of the car.
The team has also adopted an interesting version of the sidepod ‘louvres’ seen on the Aston Martin and Ferrari cars. The gaps in the side bodywork have been compared online to cheese graters and shark fins.
Haas’ louvres are cut into a black carbon fibre section of bodywork on top of the side pods, although limited images of the car made it hard to see the design in detail.
Haas’ filming day marks another 2022 car seen in the flesh. Alpine is launching its car on Monday, although it is unclear whether it is a livery launch or a full reveal of the new car.
Red Bull is the biggest name yet to reveal its new car. The team launched a new livery on a show car earlier this month but does not plan to reveal the true design of its 2022 car until the first morning of testing on Feb. 23.