Images of the modified livery that the Haas Formula 1 team will be sporting this weekend at its home event, the United States Grand Prix, have been released.
This week, Haas returns to Austin for its second race in the 2023son on home soil, and its VF-23 challenger sports an eye-catching splash of the American flag.
The only American-based F1 team revealed the new look of its VF-23 cars for the Circuit of the Americas after earlier this week confirming that its drivers would don unique race outfits.
Haas will be sporting its special edition livery on both of its cars at The Circuit of the Americas along with an equally American tagline for the race weekend: “We The People,” which is the first phrase in the United States Constitution.
However, the team is going to keep its standard black-and-white color scheme, but for this particular event, it has placed the American flag’s stars and stripes to the side of its 2023 cars.
The team’s sponsor MoneyGram will also be adding its own unique twist to the VF-23’s appearance, which will be unveiled on Thursday. MoneyGram and Haas are celebrating their one-year partnership this week.
The Starlight Children’s Foundation’s bright yellow star will also be added to the car in Austin, where it will appear on both of Haas’ rear wings.
In light of the recent official approval of Andretti’s application to join the F1 grid by the FIA, Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner claims that the team decided to embrace its American heritage.
“One thing that is different this season, is our look and feel is encapsulated under the tagline ‘We The People’ – the first line of the American Constitution,” Steiner said.
“There’s obviously a lot of talk about American teams right now, but we’re still currently the only American team on the Formula 1 grid.
“Many have said for years that we haven’t exploited that fact, but I’ve always said that’s because we want to earn credibility within the paddock first.
“We’ve been through a lot in our short time, but along the way have amassed a very loyal, and growing fanbase, and we want to recognize them.
“Yes, it’s some nice marketing, but anyone who works with my team knows how passionate they are, and how funny and genuine our fans are.
“This race is dedicated to them as, we the people, make Haas what it is.”
Along with a new livery, a sizable upgrade package inspired by Red Bull will also be introduced, in a bid to boost Haas’ chances to improve their performance this weekend.
Last time out in Qatar, Alfa Romeo overpowered Haas, pushing the team down to ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship with five races left. With only one point in eight rounds so far, the team will be hoping that its updated car can spur a turnaround in performance.
Changes are expected to be made to the floor, engine cover, sidepod inlet, sidepods, quarter panel, and padding gills thanks to a recent influx of new parts from Haas.
“The upgrade on the VF-23 is aerodynamic,” explained Steiner. “We changed the concept of the car because what we started with, because of the new regulations last year, we couldn’t make any more gains performance-wise.
“Creating more downforce and less drag, it just wasn’t there anymore, so we needed to change concept, to which is commonly known as the ‘Red Bull concept’ or the ‘downwash concept’.
“It is a substantial update, and we’re able to do this within the cost cap because we didn’t have any updates at the beginning of the season because again, going back, we couldn’t find any performance that we could make parts to put on the car.”
According to Kevin Magnussen, the primary goal of the modifications that are set to be introduced in Austin is to lay a strong foundation upon which Haas will develop for the upcoming season. However, the Dane also believes that Haas will receive a brief respite from the tweaks.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t hope it will give us a big improvement,” Magnussen said. “But I think there’s actually a second element to bringing this upgrade which is to research for next year.”
“I think we’re all secretly hoping it performs better than what we currently have but actually the bigger target with this is, is the research and the learning we can do for next year’s car.
“I think it’s been clear that in very specific circumstances our car can perform, but it’s a too narrow window and we need to broaden it and make it more user-friendly and compliant with a bigger variety of tracks and conditions.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to follow easier and be more friendly to tyres.”
For the three rounds that were slated to take place in the USA in 2023, only the Miami Grand Prix has been held so far. Las Vegas will host its first Formula One race in mid November, a week before the season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
