So, that wasn’t the Haas F1 Team’s VF-22 challenger that the team released last week through its social media channels and through a team press release on February 4?

Yes … and no.

While images of the car, which the team is calling the VF-22 and was designed by a group headed by team technical director Simon Resta, were released, Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner cautions against looking too closely. There’s still work to be done on the cars that will be driven by Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 2022.

Haas was the first team to show off its new car for 2022. In truth, it turns out that the reveal was more of a livery reveal than actual rendering of what the new car will look like come the first preseason test at Barcelona, Feb. 23-25.

“Uralkali Haas F1 Team today unveiled the design and livery of its brand-new VF-22 challenger,” the team said in last week. “Revealed across the team’s social media channels, the series of digital renders released on Friday showcase the car that Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher will compete with across the record-breaking 23-race 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

“The VF-22 is the first entry to emerge from the American-owned team’s all-new design-office in Maranello, Italy, led by Technical Director Simone Resta. Bringing together a new personnel group and weaving it into the existing fabric of the team, now entering its seventh season in Formula 1, was just one of many challenges tackled through 2021 culminating in the design of the VF-22—a car which has its genesis in a completely new set of regulations.”

Well, we ain’t seen nothing yet, says Steiner.

“We showed an earlier development step here,” Steiner was quoted by European media outlets. “We’re a little further along now. So yes, you’ll see a few new parts in the tests.

“But the car we have shown is more than the well-known F1 show car with a different color. There are quite a few differences.”

Story continues

In addition to the new car, Steiner has also offered opinions on the future of F1 race director Michael Masi and the sports’ mandatory vaccination rule for 2022.

“No problem for me,” Steiner said of the COVID vaccine mandate for the sport’s entire traveling contingent. “I’m in favor of vaccinations. We should all do that.”

As for race director Masi’s future, particularly in the wake of his decisions in the waning moments of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that ultimately gave the race win and the championship to Max Verstappen, Steiner says he has “full confidence” in the pending outcome of the FIA’s current investigation.

“I have not given many recommendations to the new (FIA) president (Mohammed Ben Sulayem), but we have discussed the events of Abu Dhabi in private,” Steiner said. “I know that the FIA is working diligently on the Masi issue and on what happened in Abu Dhabi in order to understand how to improve.”

Busy Week for F1

This week, three more teams will reveal their F1 cars for 2022. Red Bull Racing has scheduled its reveal for Feb. 9, followed by Aston Martin on Feb. 10 and McLaren on Feb. 11.