[Team] Haas: Gene Haas of NASCAR attempting to start F1 team

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by 321Go

Just askin'... if Hass F1 is to be US based because Gene Haas is on the 'all American' wagon, does he plan on having an all American staff, drivers, sponsors, etc. etc.?

If so, he might as well give up before he even starts.

F1 wants to expand its awareness in North America and it is a huge market, so I'd expect Gene Haas to go for a well known US brand name as sponsor, that also has a global presence. As for drivers I think it would be a smart move to have a mix of homegrown talent as well as European, though South American wouldn't be a bad choice either and I think an Anglo-American mix for staff as well.

[EricS]

Haas F1 press conference live now: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/7...events/2912860

[chillibowl]

i would also think that the sponsor is very important.

location is less important i think. if the America's Cup team is any indication Americans are willing to support a team comprised of non Americans wearing American colours provided winning is a possibility. i think that logic would apply to a teams head quarters, main design facilities, and make up of the staff.

[JHamilton]

America's Cup? Really chilli?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

America's Cup? Really chilli?

lol

come on, i thought that was a pretty good analogy.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

lol

come on, i thought that was a pretty good analogy.

It probably is because somehow, and I've never seen a minute of the America's Cup, I know exactly what you are talking about.

I'll make a concession to my argument... They can build/run the car in the UK if it has a flame paint job. Because the Brits love when we do that.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

F1 wants to expand its awareness in North America and it is a huge market, so I'd expect Gene Haas to go for a well known US brand name as sponsor, that also has a global presence. As for drivers I think it would be a smart move to have a mix of homegrown talent as well as European, though South American wouldn't be a bad choice either and I think an Anglo-American mix for staff as well.

If Haas can sell a desperate need to win in F1 to the American population, I have no doubt they will succeed even if it is totally staffed by American drivers!
Whether he can muster the resources is the only question.

Just need a company like Lockheed Martin to back it and they will most assuredly win. They have forgotten more than anyone else has ever known!

[321Go]

Judging from the press conference, the only thing Gene Haas knows about F1 is that he has a licence to enter a team in the series. Nothing much else.

Not a good start when he answered "I like F1 from a marketing point of view." to the question of does he like F1. And comments like "We can beat the Europeans at their own game." - "We have a business plan to make this a profitable enterprise over five years..." Good start Gene - good start.

What we learned from the press conference:

• 2015 entry unlikely, 2016 definitely
• Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina
• An European base, either in Italy or Germany for maintenance purposes.
• A 'customer car' for the first year. A technical partnership with Ferrari or Mercedes.
• Dallara to build the first chassis. Long term plan is to do everything in-house.
• Experienced F1 driver to help with start up, then fire him and employ American drivers.

Interesting times ahead.

[wolfhound]

I know that Haas has Gunter Steiner as team principal at the moment but with so many recent team principals out of work at the moment......
On the car fron I would question the use of Dallara to design and build a GP car. They build a lot of fine production racing cars but how many of them compete with other marques of racing car? I can't think of any currently. If I remember correctly a senior engineer who is now at Mercedes worked with HRT and was not very complimentry of their abilites.
I would have thought of using some of the companies building LMP cars would be a better option. In many ways those cars are closer yo what is needed in F1.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

I know that Haas has Gunter Steiner as team principal at the moment but with so many recent team principals out of work at the moment......
On the car fron I would question the use of Dallara to design and build a GP car. They build a lot of fine production racing cars but how many of them compete with other marques of racing car? I can't think of any currently. If I remember correctly a senior engineer who is now at Mercedes worked with HRT and was not very complimentry of their abilites.
I would have thought of using some of the companies building LMP cars would be a better option. In many ways those cars are closer yo what is needed in F1.

Dallara built F1 cars for others back in the late 80's and around the early 90's that actually managed a podium or two.
However things have changed a lot since then regarding aero and while no one can build a F3 car as well as Dallara this is something different.
It is MUCH harder to design and build a competitive F1 car now than it was twenty years ago.... simply because everything is so refined now that without the experience of where to focus and concentrate in design lots of small detail seemingly insignificant details get missed.

That's why Caterham and Marussia have made such little apparent progress. Money does help but its not everything

[321Go]

Dallara's last F1 adventure was with HRT, only four years ago. Nothing more to say there.

And as for engine choice, Haas said it's between Ferrari or Mercedes, with factory support. But it won't be Mercedes. I'm 99.9% sure of that.

There was also a rumour of factory support from Ford, with the return of a rebadged Cosworth V6 turbo. This could still be on the cards apparently if Hass doesn't get what he wants in the next few weeks from Ferrari or Mercedes.

[Paradise City]

What a Dalolara in 9 months? lol. Opps.

Stick a Ferrari in me poc-ket
I'll fetch the suitcase from the transporter
Cause if you want the best 'uns
And you don't ask questions
Then brother I'm your man

Where it all comes from
Is a mystery
It's like the changing of the seasons
And the tides of the sea
But heres the one thats driving me berserk
Why do only fools and horses work
La la lala - la la la la la

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

What a Dalolara in 9 months? lol. Opps.

Stick a Ferrari in me poc-ket
I'll fetch the suitcase from the transporter
Cause if you want the best 'uns
And you don't ask questions
Then brother I'm your man

Where it all comes from
Is a mystery
It's like the changing of the seasons
And the tides of the sea
But heres the one thats driving me berserk
Why do only fools and horses work
La la lala - la la la la la

Anyone who does a homage to this great sitcom is a winner in my book!

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i would also think that the sponsor is very important.

Been following this with interest. My job is connected to the licensed and catering industry and each day we get one of these industry up date e mails. There was something on the wires this morning about Subway being in serious discussion with Bernie about getting into F1. Could be with another team but thought it was interesting timing. Unfortunately as this is a service we pay for I cannot share the link with you, but there were quotes directly from Subway and I'm sure it'll find its way into the motorsport press before long. Apologies if it already has and I've missed it.

[Hawkwood]

So after all this build-up Haas isn't even entering next year?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by wnut

If Haas can sell a desperate need to win in F1 to the American population, I have no doubt they will succeed even if it is totally staffed by American drivers!
Whether he can muster the resources is the only question.

Just need a company like Lockheed Martin to back it and they will most assuredly win. They have forgotten more than anyone else has ever known!

With their resources and various black projects, Haas should get Lockheed Martin to build his chassis at the Skunk Works, rather than Dallara.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by 321Go

Judging from the press conference, the only thing Gene Haas knows about F1 is that he has a licence to enter a team in the series. Nothing much else.

After listening to the press conference, I have a slightly different take. I really don't follow NASCAR at all other than knowing some of the basics about the sport, recognizing team and driver names, etc. So I really don't know much about who Gene Haas is (other than the basics facts about Haas Automation and Haas CNC Racing). I got the impression that he was NOT a dyed in the wool F1 fan with the level of knowledge that is displayed here on a daily basis. Rather, I get the impression he is a racing fan, and a fan with the drive to actually go racing (team ownership). It also was the first time I have seen him speak, so I can't tell what his style is. Is he a "what you see is what you get" type of guy, or does he play some of his cards close to his vest.

Regardless, my general thoughts about the conference...

* Poor audio (low volume and poor quality of conference call line) didn't help
* Primary initial funding/sponsorship is via Haas Automation. In short it sounds like an additional deep pocket sponsor will be required within the first five years, but not within the first year or two.
* Expect within the near future (next few years?) that there will be some type of budget cap to be put in place.
* He didn't push "I want to race in F1" so much as "I want to get the name Haas Automation out there".
* They have to decide (per FIA agreement) roughly within the next four weeks if they will race in 2014 or 2015
* Regarding 2014 vs. 2015, Haas says 2014 is probably too soon and 2015 is too far away. They clearly haven't decided yet. I would assume that speed of partner selection (PSU and chassis) play a large factor.
* They seem to be very realistic about not setting the world on fire in their first few seasons. They seemed to be focusing on just showing up, racing and finishing races.
* Feels that his experience (running successful business, owning wind tunnel, successful NASCAR team, etc.) provides him a leg up on jumping into F1 vs. the challenges that USF1 had (starting from absolutely zero).
* They are not particularly married to using the Haas Automation Belgium location as their European base. They mentioned German and Italy, but surprisingly did not mention UK.
* They used the term "technical partner" in I think two different ways. First from a PSU provider and second as someone to build the initial car.
* European location seems to be driven off who their technical partner will be.
* Design and initial chassis construction in US (North Carolina) but European basis for European rounds. I got the impression that the fly away races would originate from the European basis.
* I can't remember if Dallara was mentioned or not. Maybe it was and I missed it. I think they expect to sit side by side with whoever designs the initial car and learn.
* PSU is expected to be Mercedes or Ferrari. Renault was said to be at their limit for providing teams and not an option.
* Wants a mixture of experienced F1 driver and potential American driver. But I get the feeling that the priority is experienced driver. Haas wouldn't be drawn into speculation about various US drivers. He did say that he thought that it was likely hard for a given driver to easily switch from F1 to NASCAR or NASCAR to F1 and absolutely didn't think a given driver could try to do both at the same time.
* Interesting comments about the different way fan access is handled in F1 vs. NASCAR. He felt that F1 needs to be more open.
* He clearly seems to be in the mold that many (including me) have speculated regarding the wish to have a US centric team. That buying up a existing team, or building a totally new team in Europe is not what he wants to do.

Overall, I think he generally said the right things. I wish I got more of a feeling that he has always been a closet F1 fan and that entry into F1 was the realization of a personal dream. Sadly, I didn't get that a him at all. In fact I didn't get a vibe of enthusiasm or excitement at all, but that might just be his style. He did come across very confident. Given his business and racing success, I don't find that surprising.

If I would pick one single item that I don't quite agree with it would be the apparently openness to the European location. Given they seem to be open to not using the existing Haas Automation location in Belgium, I personally think it would be stupid to not set the European base in the classic motorsport valley outside of London. I don't see any great long term benefit of a Germany or Italy location.

Richard

[chillibowl]

just speculating (reaching even) but there is the ex-Toyota F1 base in Cologne and if Toyota is one of the potential backers then this could be an interesting team.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by AndyS

There was something on the wires this morning about Subway being in serious discussion with Bernie about getting into F1...

thanks for that and am now seeing it on other F1 sites too.

tbh, im a bit conflicted on how i feel about Subway.

on one hand i think F1 is really lacking in sponsorship from companies selling affordable consumer/service products. on the other hand is Subway too low brow?

yellow and green (which i think are subways colours) on a car are nice though.

[BSchneiderFan]

It's always baffled me that Coca-Cola, Pepsi and McDonald's have never got into F1 in a serious way.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

just speculating (reaching even) but there is the ex-Toyota F1 base in Cologne and if Toyota is one of the potential backers then this could be an interesting team.

According to this he's looking at Dallara to build the first chassis. Rather short sighted but predictable, considering he knows practically zip about F1 and what exposure he's had to OWR will undoubtedly IndyCar and Dallara have been building chassis for IndyCar since 1997 or to quote Haas, 'They've been involved in racing forever as far as I can remember.'

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

It's always baffled me that Coca-Cola, Pepsi and McDonald's have never got into F1 in a serious way.

I only know of one race team Coke has been the main sponsor of. They just do little stuff. It's a shame though because a simple Coca-cola livery would look awesome on so many race cars.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

With their resources and various black projects, Haas should get Lockheed Martin to build his chassis at the Skunk Works, rather than Dallara.

WOW what a fantastic idea ! Imagine a stealth F1 car .....

[Baigu]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

It's always baffled me that Coca-Cola, Pepsi and McDonald's have never got into F1 in a serious way.

Too much of an expensive gamble.

[Paradise City]

Frankly if the project is realised at all, I expect them to limp around the grid for a year or two and promptly fold. Maybe he's got some gems tucked away in that business plan of his but I don't see any wow factor that distinguishes him from the rest and he'll have trouble picking up the kind of people that'll work up and match his team with the big boys. As a fan though I welcome the new addition, I'm just not convinced it'll turn heads.

I had assumed that he'd pick up Lotus, STR, Caterham or Force India. Teams that are discreetly on the market or/and ones struggling. There's no shortage of those unfortunately. It is a declaration of intent, to start from scratch, presumably he wants the American stamp all over this team rather than a rebranding exercise. May very well prove commercially foolhardy though.