Haas kicks off F1 launch season with VF-23

Hold the front page, Haas has grabbed first place! No, Kevin Magnussen hasn’t taken another surprise pole position, F1’s favourite underdogs are first off the line with its new car for 2023.

Kicking off F1 launch season (gets earlier every year, doesn’t it?), Haas has revealed digital renderings of the livery it’ll be using for the coming campaign.

We say ‘livery’ and not ‘finished race car’ because - as is the norm nowadays - the team will be keeping its true aero development under wraps for as long as possible before pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain later this month.

The arrival of a new title sponsor - US financial services company MoneyGram - means a return to a colour scheme we’ve seen occasionally since Haas made its F1 debut in 2016, with much black, white, and a smattering of red. Thoughts? 

“I obviously share everyone’s enthusiasm around the livery unveil, not least as it’s a checkpoint in the pre-season calendar which means we’re another step closer to doing the thing we actually want to be doing – and that’s go racing,” said team principal Guenther Steiner. “I like the livery, it’s undoubtedly a more elevated and modernised look which is fitting as we move into a new era alongside MoneyGram as our title partner.

“It’s an exciting time of year for Formula 1 and it’s great that we’re first out the gate to showcase our livery but our attention is firmly on getting the VF-23 on-track and preparing for the season ahead.”

Haas has a potentially explosive driver line-up in the form of Magnussen and F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg, who was famously instructed to, um, inhale the Dane’s orbs after an on-track incident back when the German raced with Renault.

Hulkenberg’s arrival was announced in November as the team parted ways with Mick Schumacher, who has since signed as Mercedes’ reserve driver for the coming year.

Reckon Haas can spring more surprises on us in 2023?