Haas to run throwback livery as it hits 200th GP milestone

Haas will enter its 200th race in Formula 1 at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, and has a throwback livery to mark the occasion.

Gene Haas’ team first joined the grid at the start of 2016, finishing eighth in its debut year before repeating that result in its second season. In 2018 the team had its best finish so far of fifth in the constructors’ championship, and it has only finished 10th twice in its history – going scoreless in 2021.

Off the back of its second-best season last year, Haas is currently seventh in the standings heading into its 200th race, where it will run a special livery that is based on its 2016 design.

“Montreal is our 200th race, but it doesn’t feel that long ago that we were celebrating our 100th, but 10 seasons is a long time,” team principal Ayao Komatsu said. “It’s hard to put into words but it’s a milestone that we should all be so proud of, and we’re still very much on the journey to improve the team, hence it feels like another race.

"When you think about it though, from nothing to 200 races is significant because not many new teams survive more than two seasons, and they disappear without scoring a single point. The fact we’re fighting in the midfield and aren’t satisfied when we’re not scoring points at every race, that’s a good thing.

“Our aim is high, we want to be at the front of the midfield, and there’s so much going on at this team right now. For our 200th race, I really hope we can celebrate with points, and we’ll do our best. There’s no better place than to celebrate it in Montreal, it’s such a cool city with an amazing circuit, and the vibe is amazing. “

Haas has only scored once in the past five races but Komatsu says new parts brought to the car at the start of the triple header have delivered a step forward, and he’s targeting another chance of points in Canada.

“I think the upgrade we brought to Imola has worked because it did improve our high-speed performance, and the car is definitely better. The thing is right now, everybody is moving, so it’s difficult to completely judge as you can’t go solely by competitiveness, but with everything we measure ourselves, it is working.

“In Montreal, will we see the full extent of it? Probably not as it hasn’t got high-speed corners, it’s all about straight-line speed, low-speed traction and chicanes. Saying that, I think we could’ve scored points in every race bar Melbourne and Jeddah, and I don’t see Montreal as anything different.”