Haas aims for 'bigger, better, faster, lighter'

Speaking at the unveiling of the new Haas F1 car for 2017, team owner Gene Haas has said that being involved in Formula One has given the team a level of standing within the sport that it couldn't otherwise have achieved.

He added that this extended to the machine tools business that has made him a billionaire, which is how he can justify the costly outlay in Grand Prix racing around the world.

“Being a Formula One participant brings a level of credibility that you just won’t get through traditional advertising,” says Haas, whose team made its bow in Formula One just under 12 months ago.

Haas officially introduces the VF-17!

“People are kind of ‘show me’ people, like show me what you can do and then I’ll believe in you.

"That was the initial concept – to convince people of our ability to do things others can’t, and I think that translates into being a machine tool builder.

"Bigger, Better, Faster, Lighter is what we strive for in the machining industry - and it’s what we strive for in motorsports.

"People see what we can do in Formula One, and people believe Haas Automation can build world-class machine tools."

Haas added that the name of the new chassis - VF-17 - had roots in the machine tools business where the 'V' stood for vertical, which is an industry standard designation for a vertical mill.

The first CNC machine (computer numerically controlled) manufactured by Haas Automation was the VF-1 in 1988, with the 'F' added so that it unofficially stood for 'very first one' rather than prefiguring Haas' eventual move into Formula One nearly three decades later.

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.