Ahead of what must be seen as a make or break season for the American team, it was perhaps significant that Gene Haas was present for today's official unveiling of his team's 2020 contender.

The American joined drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, and also team boss, Guenther Steiner, for the obligatory media shoot, smiling as the wraps were pulled back to reveal the VF-20.

It's a make or break season because the team is the centre of much speculation over its future, with some fearing that another poor year, like 2019, might cause Haas to pull the plug.

Eighth in its debut season, eighth again in season two and then a convincing fifth in season three, much was expected of the American team in 2019, but it was not to be.

At the season opener, it looked as though Haas was in business, Grosjean and Magnussen claiming sixth and seventh in qualifying. However, while the Dane finished sixth in the race, his teammate was to suffer a repeat of the same unsafe release that had sidelined both drivers just twelve months earlier. Sadly, in many ways, Australia was as good as it got.

While Magnussen, in particular, continued to perform brilliantly in qualifying, making it to Q3 in five of the first six races, everything fell apart on Sunday, for though most teams had a window in which their tyres are at an optimum, at Haas the window was miniscule.

In Bahrain, Magnussen was close to pulling off the upset of the season, when he almost out-qualified Max Verstappen, but next day the Dane was left almost speechless after slipping down the field and struggling to finish 13th. More was to follow in China and the Azerbaijan.

Though the team introduced an upgrade in Spain it only made matters worse, and it wasn't long before it became clear that the American outfit had a fundamental issue. As the team struggled to understand the problem, far less solve it, all manner of fixes were tried, with Grosjean reverting to the Melbourne spec.

Later in the year as the struggles got worse, Steiner admitted that he should have listened to his drivers, Grosjean never happy with the Barcelona upgrade while the team continued with its 'pick and mix' approach to its aero package depending on the circuit.

Soon, Saturdays, like Sundays, were a write-off, and as Magnussen appeared to lose faith, Grosjean's qualifying efforts began to improve only for things to fall apart next day.

In the lottery that was Germany both drivers scored points, but other than that it was slim pickings, Magnussen ending the season with 20 points and Grosjean just 8. From 5th in 2018, the American team had now slipped to ninth, ahead of Williams... the two teams having spent the latter part of the season battling one another… a sad fall from grace for both.

As if things weren't bad enough, in Austin Grosjean crashed in practice. Normally this wouldn't have been a big issue, but as the Frenchman was running the team's much-anticipated new front wing - of which there was only one - it was.

There has been concern about the future of the team for some time, and when it was announced in September that Grosjean was to continue with the team in 2020 speculation intensified.

With the sport facing a massive overhaul in 2021, 2020 is the ideal opportunity for some to bow out, hence the question mark regards the future of Haas. Certainly, the decision to retain Grosjean, as opposed to taking on the likes of Hulkenberg or a rookie appeared to suggest that Gene Haas had already made his mind up.

While the business model Haas chose when it entered the sport seemed reasonable, and in many ways could prove the way to go once the budget cap is introduced in 2021, it also meant that the team didn't have the resources to react to the situation it found itself in 2019, and was therefore unable to get on top of the issue.

The VF-19 had strong one-lap pace, especially at the beginning of the season, but its susceptibility in terms of the ultra-narrow tyre operating window meant it struggled when performance was really needed.

Let's hope that the team has learned from the harsh lesson of 2019.

Check out our Haas VF-20 reveal gallery, here.