Like a lot of Americans, I was very happy to learn that The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas was going to become part of the Formula 1 schedule. After two races, the track has earned a lot of praise from the F1 community and now the only thing left to do is get an American team back in the sport. Well, it looks like that may be finally happening.
The FIA has recently granted a Formula 1 license to Gene Haas, who has not only been partner in the Stewart-Haas championship-winning NASCAR team, but is also the founder of Haas Automation, a California company that builds parts for CNC machines. Better yet, he’s also developed a rolling wind tunnel capable of simulating speeds up to 180mph.
Those credentials are about as solid as it gets, and I’m certainly excited to see what becomes of this. Now that the license has been secured, the team could have two cars on the grid as soon as next season.
For a deeper report, the Sporting News has a great story on the process, with a lots of Haas’s own comments on the challenges of building an F1 team. Regardless of where you come from, I don’t think there’s anyone that can deny excitement that could come with an American team entering the sport. What say you?
Mike Garrett
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More people, the better it'll get. Just don't think that they'll be Redbull fast.........for now.
Chris 'Haffy' Hafner You mean Mercedes fast?
@Mk2Siri Chris 'Haffy' Hafner Ha yeah Redbull ain't been as fast this year, abeit by mechanical fault or team/driver error but wait for them to sort out the bugs and be blindingly fast mid-year.
Chris 'Haffy' Hafner not with that renault power unit they wont haha
Stroker ace is going open wheel racing yeeehaaaaaa
@jtmnyy Chris 'Haffy' Hafner lol!
Will they use an american power unit also?
copy pasted article from f1.com lol
I'm looking forward for Honda to come back with McLaren!!
Correction, he owns a full-scale windtunnel in Concord, NC that's been in operation for 5 years. Although, this doesn't matter at all, because currently full-scale testing is banned in F1. The bigger question in all of this is where Haas is going to find the skilled and highly technical work-force to run a F1 team successfully, which is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 400-500 employees. The other thing that I question is started a F1 team from scratch without any historical knowledge or evolutionary designs is going to put a team seriously behind compared to the teams that have been doing this for 20+ years successfully.
I genuinely dont think this will happen, unless you've got mega amounts of money behind you its almost impossible to get on the F1 grid, Bernie is just obsessed with having an american F1 team thats the only reason Haas has been granted entry.
There's much more capable compnaies/teams out there that could field a couple of cars.
I posted this elsewhere:
The best move Haas could make would be to takeover and absorb Lotus then as Haas get Mercedes power. It would be an expensive way to go straight to the "top" group and score points immediately.
I understand the strategy of throwing together a Dallara to get in next season and truly begin learning how to compete in F1, the best way to understand something is to experience it yourself. The problem is when you look at the competitive teams right now, the only newcomers to challenge the old guard have started by taking over existing teams. Mercedes - Brawn/Honda/BAR, RedBull - Jaguar/Ford/Stewart, and Force India - Spyker/Midland/Jordan. began with an established infrastructure (also based in the UK). Even the mighty Toyota couldn't produce a win starting from scratch. I also feel it is a mistake to have a European base anywhere but "Motorsports Valley" in the UK.
I'm proud of my country but I will be happy just to see them on the grid and have no expectations beyond that.
Hopefully with an American engine in the car....
Jason Hardy Actually, Haas does have mega amounts of money. Not to mention, he has the opportunity to gather some American sponsors. He's our best hope yet for an American team.
greenroadster That would be unbelievable.
RcStreetSource Totally agree. Unfortunately, he only looks interested in starting from scratch.
Yea I do not think this is going to happen. If it does power to them but seems to me it is just another money scheme like USF1. As for an American engine in the car that for sure is not going to happen. None of the American car makers have the money for that at the moment or any interest in it. Fiat owns Dodge so that is out. Chevy have huge legal issues to deal with and Ford have no clue what they are doing at the moment.
BitMutt Jason Hardy He perhaps is America's best chance of getting a team on the grid but propping up the back, any new team the starts from scratch is going to end up like Marussia, Caterham or even HRT... unless your able to buyout a team like Force India/Mercedes/Red Bull did then you haven't got a hope.
Force India have proved that by buying a small team like Jordan you can become competitive in F1.
Vijay Mallya is a prime example of how to get into and be competitive in Formula 1.
When was the last time a brand new team came into formula 1 and established themselves in the midfield... Toyota? They achieved nothing, if the worlds biggest car maker cant crack F1 then Gene Haas hasnt got a hope.
greenroadster dream on...
I wouldn't sign the project off as a failure just yet. I'm reading a lot of people talking about how tried and true veterans are having a difficult time producing the power to compete with Mercedes this year. This is the definition of out of the box thinking. He could take a completely different view of the regulations, and come up with something that the other teams haven't considered yet.
This worked for New Zealand in America's Cup sailing (they brought a catamaran to the race when everyone was sailing mono-hull boats, and kicked the pant off everyone; now everyone is racing using cats).
I would welcome a fresh look at F1.
This is happening in my back yard and I am stoked to have F1 in USA! I work with existing NASCAR industry and I am thrilled that F1 opportunities are going to be available. The talent pool and motorsports infrastructure that surrounds the Concord/Charlotte, NC area is astounding. I have no doubt that Haas can assemble an organization capable of performing at the top level, the biggest question will be if the Dallara chassis and the powertrain (rumored to be Ferrari) can compete. Any word on potential pilots?
'Murica
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131003032741/halo/images/a/a8/Murica!!!.jpg
What's up with the whole "murica" thing anyways?
Haas has the cash behind them, the ability to attract sponsors, and I don't think there will be any shortage of talent to manage and run the team between domestic and international applicants. I think a big issue they may run into is simply the parts side of the equation. Being US based, when everyone else is in the UK, and many more events on that side of the globe vs this one, puts them behind the 8 ball from the jump. Sure, people will say "Haas can make their own parts, and Charlotte proper has the ability to make anything". That is what remains to be seen, and I think one of their biggest obstacles
One of the most important things that people like Gene Haas understand is to not be controlled by self imposed limiting beliefs. I'm sure this is not the first time he has had his share of naysayers.
Truly successful people usually take on challenges many others deem unrealistic. His vision of Haas Automation, and Stewart Haas Racing I'm sure also seemed insurmountable to many.
I'll be on the sidelines cheering him on. Go for it Gene. Full points for having the stones - and vision - to take this on.
The problem they're going to face is that the people really experienced in the F1 industry are mostly based around the 'motorsport valley' area of the midlands in the UK; that's not to say there won't be talented people in Charlotte, but they won't be able to poach lead designers or engineers from other teams, because few people will be willing to move thousands of miles.
Its not that we're doubting Haas, We're doubting the plan he has presented to us.
USF1 failed miserably with the dream of building F1 cars in North Carolina. I am not saying that American engineers are inadequate, F1 has unique requirements that can only be learned by working within the sport. The majority of those people live in the UK. Very few would be willing to relocate to another country for a project that may not survive one season.
HRT used a Dallara chassis and it was horrible:
“What Dallara delivered was a total mess. They built a Formula One car with quality that you no longer see in Formula 3,” said a frustrated Ravetto in an interview with Dutch publication Formule 1 Race Report. “They (Dallara) delivered the cars and that was it. To develop the car further, we will have to do it,” added the Italian, hinting that Dallara's input in the development of their 2010 challenger lacks completely.
Honda is not doing customer engine until at least after 2016. Renault is fine with 4 teams, the Ferrari engine is terrible, strangely, they aren't pushing like crazy to get McLaren's supply of Mercedes engines. Unless Cosworth comes back and their turbo engine is spectacular, or the FIA lifts the engine freeze, Haas will be using the worst engine in the field (Ferrari).
It looks like Haas has every intention of being the very worst team in F1 next season. Our negative opinions aren't coming from misunderstanding or hate, they're coming from disappointment.
One of the biggest things people fail to see is the attitude of Haas. He has the I will not fail regardless if you think I will type that is needed in business and racing. The team will be bad if the field cars next year without a doubt. But that's not it, it's whether you see improvements race to race and from year to year. They'll be able to develop a full chassis for 2016 most likely, and I'm sure Ford or Chevy would likely want a piece of F1 with their engines.
Ford with their Ecoboost motors would be huge for them if they went into F1 with them, imagine an American engine in F1 for an American team.
Ford did have success with their engines in F1 before, albeit designed and built by Cosworth. I believe they could do something with their ecoboost engine.