Former McLaren and Red Bull engineer Rob Taylor will head the design of the first Haas car, in collaboration with Ferrari and Dallara.

"We do not want to make a car to test this year," team boss Gunther Steiner is quoted by Italy's Autosprint.

"If you make a car for that purpose, by next year it is already outdated."

Autosprint also claims that team owner Gene Haas, already with a leading outfit in the top US stock car series NASCAR, is keen on reviving the colour yellow in F1.

Throwback to the Jordan days

Former F1 team Jordan's bright yellow cars are fondly recalled, while Renault fielded a yellow and black design in 2010.

Haas said he would like his cars to stand out when they hit the grid.

"We would love to have a car in line with the company's image," said Haas, whose corporate logo is actually red and silver.

"But it needs to be good, too, because all these cars in silver or grey appear almost identical to each other.

"I would like a colour that makes us distinguishable," said the Californian. "I do like yellow."