The Haas F1 Team are on track to debut their car at the first test of the season in Barcelona on February 22, with crash testing already scheduled for the yet unnamed chassis.
The American based team will join the grid in 2016 and has struck a technical partnership with Ferrari, meaning it has not only sourced its engine from the Italian team, but many components as well including transmission and suspension.
That has helped Haas to ensure it can be ready in time and team principal Günther Steiner confirmed their debut chassis will be ready in time for the first test.
“The work is going to plan so we are pretty happy,” he told Sky Sports. “Everything seems to be coming together. [The car] has been designed and signed off.
“The production planning is going well, we’ll start production of the car in January.”
When asked if he was confident Haas would make the first test, he replied: “As confident as we can be. We’re very confident.”
Meanwhile Steiner admitted not even he knows what colour the car will be amid rumours they could run Ferrari yellow, and it’s likely to be kept a secret until the car is launched in Barcelona.
“Mr Haas has not decided yet,” he said. “I think it’s a very personal decision and we give him time until the last minute. I actually don’t know.
“We have no spare time [to launch early]. We will roll it out the day before testing in Barcelona.”
