👍👍👍 #vf18 looking really good. pic.twitter.com/tFdaSpWDHQ
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) February 14, 2018
The First Glimpse of the VF-18
Formula 1 fans are eagerly awaiting the 2018 season to start. The curtain came down on last season on 26th November 2017 at Abu Dhabi. Williams had announced the first car launch for the 2018 season on February 15th. The first day of Pre-Season testing (February 26) in Barcelona, Spain will give the fans a glimpse of the new challengers on the track for the first time in 2018.
Haas F1, the newest F1 team, sprung a surprise today by posting a video on all their social media platforms and website of their new car. Haas F1 are the first American team in F1 since 1986. The Ferrari-powered VF-18 is here and the image renderings gives us the first glimpse of the F1 cars with the Halo system installed. Shark Fins on the engine covers are no longer there.
Bigger. Better. Faster. Lighter.
Introducing, the #VF18. pic.twitter.com/sMhqW8WpQ8
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) February 14, 2018
The Haas F1 team distinguished itself with identical eighth place finishes in its debut season (2016 -29 points) and last season (2017 – 47 points). This VF-18 is an evolution on last season’s VF-17. Last year, the team wrestled with weight problems and in setting up the car. The performance of the car varied wildly from track to track because of this.
Haas F1 drivers, especially Romain Grosjean, endured repeated problems with the brakes. The change of the suppliers of the brake disc material did not seem to fix the problem. The problems with the complex brake-by-wire system have to be solved in the new version of the car by the team to make a step forward.
Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner are Optimistic
Team owner Gene Haas said:“We eliminated a lot of the variables where we knew we were weak. 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.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, said:”The biggest part of the car’s evolution was the addition of the halo. 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 center 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.
“The livery is a little bit of a return to what we had on our first car, the VF-16. Its look is clean and precise, just like the machine tools made by Haas Automation.”
The Drivers
Grosjean, the team’s French driver, must be hoping that the brake issues are sorted and he can improve on his 13th position in the drivers’ championship. The Frenchman tweeted:
👍👍👍 #vf18 looking really good. pic.twitter.com/tFdaSpWDHQ
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) February 14, 2018
Kevin Magnussen, his teammate, who was right behind him in 14th position in the championship will hope that his fourth season as a full-time driver in F1 will see him improve on his best performance of 11th position in his debut season (2014).
This is the Schedule for Car Launches that have been announced so far:
| TEAM | CHASSIS (POWER UNIT) | DATE | VENUE |
| Williams | FW41 (Mercedes) | February 15 | London, UK |
| Red Bull | RB14 (TAG Heuer) | February 19 | TBC |
| Sauber | C37 (Ferrari) | February 20 | Online |
| Renault | R.S.18 (Renault) | February 20 | Online |
| Ferrari | TBC (Ferrari) | February 22 | Online |
| Mercedes | W09 (Mercedes) | February 22 | Silverstone, UK |
| McLaren | MCL33 (Renault) | February 23 | TBC |
| Toro Rosso | STR13 (Honda) | February 26 | Barcelona, Spain |
Pre-Season Testing Schedule:
| VENUE | DATES |
| Barcelona, Spain | February 26 – March 1 |
| Barcelona, Spain | March 6 – 9 |
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
