The starting grid of the next World Championship is enriched by a new car. After the renders published in recent weeks, Haas took to the track for the shakedown showing the world the real VF23, which will have the arduous task of achieving sixth place in the World Championship, as desired by Gunther Steiner. In a paddock where the cars converge more and more towards the Red Bull forms, the 2023 Haas is an evolution of the previous car, in turn inspired by key Ferrari concepts. The technical department led by Simone Resta has followed the path traced by the Cavallino, taking up an important update introduced during the year, while looking forward at the same time and churning out various innovations.
During the recent Alfa Romeo presentation, Sauber technical director Jan Monchaux explained how the most important changes had been made to the rear, noting the greater difficulty in extracting performance from the front: “The development of the front is more difficult, the return on investment is smaller. That’s not to say there isn’t performance to extract, but since wind tunnel testing and resources are limited, strategic decisions need to be made on where to invest more.” However, looking at the Haas 2023, we can see how the innovations are concentrated right at the front, in particular in the suspension. With the abolition of the aerodynamic appendages in the center of the car in 2022, the suspension arms remained the only elements between the wing and the bottom, assuming a crucial role in the distribution of flows. It is therefore no coincidence that Jody Egginton, AlphaTauri technical director, has defined the front suspension as a driving element in the performancein turn dictated by aerodynamics.
With the VF23 Haas has restructured the front end and front aerodynamics, starting with the wing. Observing the aileron, we notice a more progressive downward trend of the profiles as we reach the outside (1). Overall, the wing appears heavily loaded in the central portion than at the ends looking for a greater outwash effect to channel the flows outside the front wheels. This results in a different positioning of the vortices generated by the wing itself, which can be used to mitigate the turbulence produced by the front wheels. The result at the rear of the car is a floor that is better shielded from the external environment, generating more load.
Unfortunately, from external observation alone it is impossible to tell whether Haas has sacrificed a fraction of the front load with the new wing design. The hypothesis cannot be ruled out, as the 2023 Pirelli tires have been developed to counteract last season’s understeer, with the possibility that this encourages the teams to shift the aerodynamic balance towards the rear. From the front view it is also noticeable a new shape of the front brake air intakes (2). This is an important change for the VF23, as with the new regulations teams are still able to calibrate the heat transfer between the brakes and rims to control tire temperatures. The brake cooling ducts were among the main updates that allowed Red Bull and Mercedes to find performance in 2022.
With the new front wing loaded more in the center, Haas goes to sort the greater most of the central flows in the upper part. The geometry of the front suspension has been revised precisely as a function of this, designed to free up a wider corridor between the wheel and the nose in which to collect the air conveyed by the spoiler. The steering arm (3) has been moved down and aligned with the lower triangle (4), removing an important obstacle to the passage of flows. Also, while perspective isn’t helpful, the feeling is that the upper triangle has been raised, with the rear member (5) offset downwards from the front one. In this, the Haas scheme recalls the one proposed in 2022 by Red Bull and Alfa Romeo, which in addition to directing the flows towards the bottom helps to stabilize the pitching movements under braking.
To achieve what you want, Haas has moved the steering box on the edge of the body down, also marginally benefiting the position of the center of gravity. Considering how the Italian-American team buys all the mechanics from Ferrari, it is possible that the VF23 anticipates the steering and front suspension geometry of the SF-23. In any case, the lowering of the steering required modifications to the Dallara chassis, with the company from Varano de Melegari which presumably contributed to shaving off a few extra kilograms from the car.
The bottom of the VF23 represents an evolution of the 2022 specification, replicating what Ferrari did with the update of the last French Grand Prix. The entry section of the Venturi channel (6) has the step with the rise in the center also seen on the F1-75 in the second half of the championship. Mattia Binotto at the time described the new fund as useful for generating greater load and at the same time reducing porpoising. From then on, the Rossa lost balance and performance, but the presence of a similar geometry on the Haas 2023 reinforces the idea that the basic concept pursued in Maranello was not wrong and that, if anything, it was not supported by an adequate suspension unit. Haas has also modified the external bottom strip (7), lengthening and raising it in an attempt to better separate the flows channeled into the bottom from external turbulence.
The mouths of the side radiators (8) also change on the Italian-American car. If on the one hand the external contour appears more enlarged and flattened, approaching the shapes of the F1-75, on the other is inspired by the Red Bull solution. The lower lip is in fact elongated compared to the upper one, thus accentuating the flare in the lower part of the side to collect air and sort it between the outside and the rear. In 2022 McLaren also attempted to replicate what the world champions did in this area.
The sides of the 2023 Haas stay tall and wide, without chasing the Red Bull concept with bumped bellies married by AlphaTauri, Alpine, Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams and Alfa Romeo. The depression in the upper part was remodeled and with it the course of the cooling grate. At the rear, the rise in the end part of the bonnet (9) stands out, which would seem to follow the trend of a new exhaust duct, which can be modified by regulation despite the freezing of the power unit. The hypothesis is that Haas may have changed the arrangement of some internal components and radiators or rather that he wanted to widen the vent in the tail for the disposal of hot air, taking advantage of the chimney under the fin.
The rear suspension maintains the pull-rod geometry of last season, with the tie rod particularly inclined forward (10), while no radical changes have emerged even for the upper wishbone (11). It is still possible that Hass retained the 2022 Ferrari suspension, although the redesign of the gearbox, which was necessary due to the 10mm rise of the diffuser keel, makes this scenario unlikely. Instead, it is more plausible that the 2023 Ferrari rear suspension does not deviate too much from the 2022 specification, with the main innovations concentrated in the internal group of springs-shock absorbers. The Cavallino in fact worked carefully to improve the mechanics of the SF-23 to handle the difficulties of the low and rigid structures required by the Maranello concept of ground effect.
Overall, the VF23 looks more like an evolution rather than a revolution of the VF22 car. However, this does not mean that Haas has stood idly by over the winter, making major changes especially in the forward part of the car. The feeling is that Maranello, Varano de Melegari and Kannapolis the confidence in an aerodynamic concept remains intact which, while not enjoying the same popularity as the Red Bull one, was recognized by Adrian Newey himself as equally valid.
