New livery for Haas F1

An American Formula 1 team now becomes Russian, as Haas unveils its new livery for the 2021 campaign featuring title sponsor Uralkali.

The new VF-21 is a big change from what Haas has traditionally run in, adopting red and blue colours on the white base to reflect the colours of the Russian flag.

Uralkali is the world’s largest potash fertiliser producer and is headed up by Dmitry Mazepin, the father of 2021 Haas driver Nikita Mazepin.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Uralkali to Formula 1 as title partner to Haas F1 Team,” said team owner Gene Haas.

“We look forward to representing their brand throughout the season. It’s definitely a case of all change but I’m hoping that we get back to being in the mix for scoring some points at these races.

“It’s been a tough couple of seasons, but we’ve also got our eye on the bigger picture, in particular 2022 and the implementation of the new regulations.”

Haas enters the 2021 season following a difficult season that saw the team score just three points as it finished ninth in the constructors’ championship.

It will begin the upcoming season with an all-new driver line-up following the departures of both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen at the end of last year.

Formula 2 champion Mick Schumacher graduates to Formula 1 with Haas, making his Grand Prix debut 30 years after his father, Michael, began his illustrious career.

Ferrari junior Schumacher will be joined at Haas by Mazepin, who finished fifth in last year’s Formula 2 standings with two race victories.

Haas has opted against spending its two permitted development tokens on its car for 2021 following the majority carry-over in designs under the revised technical regulations.

The move was taken to ensure the team can focus all of its resources on development for 2022, when there is an overhaul of the technical rulebook.

“It will be quite a challenging season going forward, we know about that,” said Steiner.

“We’ve braced ourselves for it. We’ll do as much as we can for this year for the mid-term, compromise the short term for the gains on the mid- to long-term. That’s our plan at the moment.”

The team has been boosted by strengthened ties with power unit supplier and technical partner Ferrari, which has established a ‘Haas hub’ at its Maranello base and redeployed staff with the American outfit.

Collective testing then runs from 12-14 March at the Bahrain International Circuit before the formal start of the 2021 season with the Bahrain Grand Prix on 28 March.