Haas 2022 car: Simone Resta offers fascinating insight into team's new machine

The 2022 Formula 1 season felt as though it got a little bit closer today as Haas unveiled, digitally, their new-look car for the upcoming campaign, and Technical Director Simone Resta has offered some insight into the work that has been going into their new piece of kit.

2021 was a year to forget for the team, though the pain was rather self-inflicted as they opted to pool and place all their resources into the 2022 project, leaving Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin with a car that was ultimately the slowest of the ten at pretty much every race weekend.

‘No pain, no gain’ is the saying, though, and the drivers and the team will be hoping that sacrificing 2021 to focus fully on 2022 will give them the opportunity to challenge further up the field as F1 enters a new era.

Indeed, it’s an exciting opportunity for every team to try and spring themselves up the order and Simone Resta has given some insight into the development work on the VF22, speaking to the official Haas website:

“There were two main project challenges with this car. The new requirements of the chassis construction were one. With FIA Regulations, the 2022 monocoque has been heavily modified for safety reasons. The strength requirements are a lot tougher with some areas being more than 150 percent stronger. This required a significant amount of reinforcement with respect to 2021, with a relevant impact on weight. Conversely, the weight of the car is a challenge by other factors as well. In terms of creating a new car, it’s probably the most complex in the last 20 years.

“It has also been a challenge at times when creating such a radically different car when internally we’re also creating new processes and structures as the team has been created. It’s hard