Haas Launches Its First Ever F1 Car

The Ferrari-powered challenger, named VF-16, is the result of more than two years of effort from the American outfit as it enters grand prix racing for the first time.

The origin of naming the car "VF-16" goes back to the first CNC machine manufactured by Haas Automation, the VF-1, launched 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".

As well as being powered by Ferrari, the team whose European headquarters are in Banbury also has a close technical collaboration with the Italian marque, and uses the Maranello-outfit's wind tunnel.

"Our goal with this car is to score points," team boss Guenther Steiner said. "First, we need to go out there and show that we can do the job, that we can finish races, that we are respected by the fans and other teams in the paddock. Then, we want to score points. That is the ultimate goal."

The new car will be driven by Esteban Gutierrez, who is returning to F1 after a year as Ferrari test driver, and Romain Grosjean who has joined from the former Lotus team.

Haas completed an installation lap with the new car at Barcelona on Saturday.