Haas updates livery for Monaco

Haas will introduce an updated livery to its Formula 1 car from the Monaco Grand Prix and carry it for the rest of the season.

Since entering the sport at the start of last season, Haas has run a predominantly two-tone gray color scheme with touches of red. While this year's has been a darker livery with a red section on the nose and front wing, Haas has now opted to drop almost all of the red from the design.

"Sleek tones of gray have replaced the red portions of the car, sans for the angular red accent mark at the rear which has been a trademark of Haas F1 Team since its debut last season," the team announced. "It's a styling upgrade for a locale where upgraded style is a way of life."

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the change developed out of the request from the FIA and Liberty Media for all teams to add larger driver numbers and identifiers from the Spanish Grand Prix onward.

"It is for the whole year now," Steiner said. "With the change in the size of the numbers and its positioning, we looked into making the entire car a little more visible."

Looking ahead to next weekend's race, Steiner says Haas will be focused on maximizing its qualifying performance in order to give itself the best chance of points.

"For me, Monaco is a race like all the others. We're there to perform and score points. However, it's always special due to the glitz and the glamour. The biggest difference with Monaco is the distance between everything. You have to walk a lot, so I would say it's one of the most logistically challenging circuits.

"And during the race it's quite intense, because if you make even a small mistake you can be in the wall. Overtaking is difficult too, so there is more pressure on Saturday during qualifying than there's actually on Sunday, because by Sunday the positions are set and unless something special happens, you end up where you start. Saturday will be intense."