Gene Haas says his eponymous squad should target a return to its 2018 form, when it finished fifth in the standings, in the wake of its worst season in Formula 1.
Haas joined Formula 1 in 2016 and secured back-to-back eighth places in the Constructors’ Championship, before vaulting up the midfield order in 2018.
Haas challenged Renault for fourth in the standings and while it missed out to the manufacturer it captured a top five finish, amassing 93 points.
But after a promising start to 2019 it regressed amid development problems with its VF-19, while issues in utilising Pirelli’s tyres compounded its prospects.
It slumped to ninth in the championship and accrued only 28 points.
Haas became the first team to reveal its 2020 car when it published renders of its VF-20 on Thursday.
The VF-20 marks a return to Haas’ traditional colour scheme after adopting a black-and-gold livery for 2019, courtesy of an ill-fated association with its title sponsor.
“I’m pleased to see the car return to the more familiar Haas Automation colours, it’s certainly a livery that people identify with,” said Haas.
“Frankly, I’m hoping the VF-20 will return us to the kind of form we ran in 2018 when we finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. 2019 was a tough season to endure.
“We’ve been through a real education process, one that comes to all Formula 1 teams at some stage.
“I’m trusting we’ve learned from those lessons and have applied that knowledge into making the VF-20 a more competitive entry.
“It’s important to me that we’re back in the mix and consistently scoring points, we certainly have the capability and we’ve proved as an organisation we can do it.”
Haas will undertake a physical unveiling of its VF-20 on the opening day of pre-season testing, with Kevin Magnussen set to give the car its on-track debut in Spain.