The Haas VF-17 made its track debut at Barcelona the day before winter testing officially got underway as part of a 100km ‘filming’ run. Like the first Haas design the new car features a Dallara built monocoque designed jointly by staff from both Haas and Dallara with the project lead by Rob Taylor. The front impact structure, cooling system, tub are all Haas-Dallara parts. The car does still feature many Ferrari components including transmission and power unit.
Incorporating “VF” into the name of the car is a nod to the history of Haas Automation, the team’s title sponsor. The first CNC machine manufactured by Haas Automation was the VF-1 in 1988. The “V” stands for vertical, which is an industry standard designation for a vertical mill. Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation, added “F1” to the name to unofficially designate it as the company’s “Very First One”.
The VF-17 was built under a new set of technical regulations featuring an advanced aerodynamic package designed to create a higher level of downforce. A wider front wing, larger barge boards, a lower and wider rear wing and a diffuser that expands 50 millimeters (two inches) in height and width comprise the changes, along with wider tires from Pirelli, by 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) in the front and 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) in the rear, a 25-percent increase to bring the front tires to 305 millimeters (12 inches) and the rear tires to 405 millimeters (15.9 inches).
“I think the pedal box is the same, but all the rest is very different from last year’s car,” said Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team. “You always try to make a faster car, which is normally a lighter car. Now we can put on more ballast and get better weight distribution. The aero is completely new, as are the tires, so we needed to have some built-in adjust-ability.
“Aesthetically, the car has a more aggressive look. It’s lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. Everything we learned from our first car has been applied to our new car.”
The VF17 has a fairly conventional nose and front wing, note the ‘thumb’ style nose a departure from the solution used in 2016. Compare the 2016 nose (below)with the 2017 (above)
In 2017 most cars on the grid have much larger barge boards than they did in 2016, a result of the new aerodynamic regulations. The Haas is no different in this respect and has a complex array of turning vanes and flow conditioners in the region behind the front wheel.
Looking from above the layout of the different elements is a bit easier to see compared to the side on image. Of interest is the large appendage on the side of the chassis which rather resembles the vertical stabiliser on a fighter aircraft from above.
From a different angle however it is clear to see that the element is curved downwards and appears to have some sort of influence on the airflow around the leading edge of the sidepod, Mercedes also has a similar component on the W08, though different in design.
While the Haas shares almost all of its mechanical components with the Ferrari the American branded Italian built car does not use the same sidepod concept seen on the red cars.
Indeed the VF17’s sidepods (above) seem relatively large in comparison, but slightly smaller than those used in 2016 (below), despite there being a higher cooling demand in 2017.
On the top of the Haas sidepods (on both sides) there is a small removable panel, this is seemingly to allow access to something inside the main cooling duct but exactly what is not clear. It has been speculated that this is part of the Haas cooling solution, serving the same function as the ‘hole’ in a similar position on the Ferrari, but this seems doubtful.
However during the teams private shakedown in Barcelona pictures of the car running with both panels removed were seen on social media.
This will perhaps be an area of further development for Haas as the season goes on.
The roll hoop design of the VF17 (below) is conceptually quite similar to that of the VF16 (above) with a triangular shape with twin supports.
However the layout of the ducts differs significantly. There is no visible split in the main duct, which suggests that it solely feeds combustion air to the Ferrari V6 engine, but the opening below the main duct appears to be larger. This, along with the sidepod shape points to a significantly different cooling system on the VF17.
The front suspension largely comes from the Ferrari, including the wishbones. Internal components are also shared. Note the partially blended lower wishbone.
Perhaps as a result the car has a similar shape to the Ferrari on the top of the nose, though at present the Haas does not have a vent where the Ferrari does.
Compare the shape of the Haas (above) with that of the Ferrari SF70H (below)
The Haas has a pullrod rear end, all of the suspension components come from Ferrari, as do the uprights and transmission casing suggesting that the geometry is identical.
The rear end of the VF-17 is perhaps not as tight as some other cars on the grid. Note the design of the rear floor and the slits in it ahead of the rear wheel.
A good look about the rear wing and diffuser of the Haas. Note the detail design of the end plates with the serrated lower section. Also of note is the slotted section on the lower part of the leading edge.
During the first pre-season test it was possible to find out a few more details about the design of the VF-17. As was the case with the 2016 car the VF-17 features a machined aluminium front bulkhead (below).
The lower edge of the 2017 car is more rounded than that of the 2016 car (below) and perhaps a little neater.
During the first day of the test a first glimpse of the rear end design was possible (below)
The overall layout of the car appears fairly similar to the 2016 model (below) the cooler arrangement appears to be exactly the same (at least in terms of concept) with one cooler mounted almost horizontally, with another cooler below it in a kind V shape. Looking at the installation of the 2017 Ferrari power unit it appears fairly similar to that of 2016, the turbine (and perhaps the compressor) is again mounted in the bell housing, with the exhaust entering the composite structure via holes in the side, the tailpipe exits via a hole in the top (as it did in 2016).
A shot of the 2016 power unit and rear end of the VF-16 can be seen below
There are of course a number of similarities between the Haas and the Ferrari due to the two cars sharing many parts.
A look at the Haas front brake duct, it is very similar in overall design to that of the Ferrari SF70H (below) which uses identical uprights and suspension. The Haas brake duct however lacks the wires which run across the front of the Ferrari ducts.
Haas fitted a aerodynamic component to its engine cover fin during the first test. Watching the Haas on track shows that the fin and the winglet move notably (wobbles) as the car rides the kerbs, something which cannot be especially helpful in terms of flow over it.
Looking closely at the appendage it is clear to see that it has a wing section, complete with Gurney and endplates, this suggests that it does in fact generate some downforce rather that merely tune air flow across the rear wing itself.
Another look at the bargeboard on the Haas, note how the floor stops, there is a small opening and then the bargeboard assembly has its own ‘floor’ section with a stepped trailing edge.
While Ferrari won two out of the first three races in 2017, it also had some power unit reliability issues in the Haas cars as well as in one of the works cars.
Here is an early look at the 2017 Ferrari 1.6 litre V6 engine. Its overall design is similar to that used in 2016 but quite clearly not the same. Compare the 2016 design (above) with that of the 2017 car (below)
The airbox has been reworked, along with the air filter, and the plenum is also new. A new charge air cooling arrangement appears to be utilised. Both crankcase and cylinder head castings differ, probably due to the increased loads both have to withstand in 2017. The (orange) high voltage cabling for the ERS has been re-routed.
A look at the 2017 Ferrari transmission, it has a composite structure as was the case with the 2016 design. Note the gold heatshield inside the ‘bellhousing,’ this is probably real gold from the ‘Zircoflex’ range of products. The head shielding is required as this is where the turbocharger sits on the Ferrari, with the 3-1 exhaust collectors mounted in the bulges on the leading edge. The input shaft is clearly visible on the lower left of this image.
Mounted to the rear of the composite transmission casing is the rear impact structure. As with all modern F1 cars this is a composite component and is subjected to impact tests before it is cleared for use.
It serves the secondary purpose of being a bracket carrying a number of aerodynamic parts as well as the rear jacking point (the metal component dropping down from the rear).
