Search
My Account » Subscribe Today »
Main menu
News
Reviews
Racing
Photos
Videos
Store
Haas F1 Team moving meticulously toward Formula One
grid
May 18, 2015
Haas F1 Team owner Gene Haas, left, and team principal Gunther Steiner, right, tour the paddock in Barcelona. Photo by LAT
PHOTOGRAPHIC
See MoreFormula One
Share This
Email Facebook Tweet Pinterest Google +
Email Facebook Tweet Pinterest Google +
American-based team has offices in North Carolina, Italy, England
The Haas F1 project continues to gather momentum. As it does, the insular Formula One world is starting to believe it’s really
going to happen. Indeed, from the Barcelona pit lane you could see a large Haas Automation logo in a hospitality suite in the
grandstand opposite— literally a sign of things to come.
American businessman Gene Haas, also a partner with the NASCAR Stewart-Haas Racing operation, paid his first visit to a 2015
Grand Prix in Spain, while his Italian-born team principal Gunther Steiner has been a regular visitor as he continues to put the
project together. It’s a hugely complex task, not least because the team has chosen to operate from three sites in the U.S., Italy and
England. All three are now up and running.
“It would have been nice to have raced this year,” Haas told Autoweek. “But looking back at it, when you’re building a team from
scratch it takes a lot more time just to fill out all the paperwork. We ordered our haulers and so forth, and it takes six months to build
them, and it takes six months to decide exactly what you want, so you’ve got a year there. The timing that it takes to put it all
together, it seems like a very slow process, but it was just what was required.”
Steiner added that patience is proving to be a virtue in this venture.
“What we worked on all last year is coming slowly together,” said Steiner. “I don’t mean it’s too slow, just you need to plan well to
get good results. And we started this process last year already, before we got the license, to get partners and to get things
working.
“When we decided to come in ’16 and not ’15, some people thought we were not (going to make it to the grid at all) because we
were dragging it on, but you need to try to be as prepared as you can. Sometimes the only way to achieve this is time.”
Working in three countries is ambitious, to say the least. The newly built headquarters in Kannapolis, N.C., houses administration,
marketing and a research team. There’s also a machine shop, well stocked with the parent company’s equipment. The machine
shop is already working on wind-tunnel model parts and is expanding.
A design office has been established at Dallara’s Parma, Italy, base. Dallara is building the chassis and other parts. From there,
the aerodynamic team can commute to and from the Ferrari wind tunnel.
Meanwhile, the actual race team is based at Banbury, in the heart of England’s motor racing valley, close to other F1 teams and
thus within reach of a pool of specialist talent. Haas has bought the former Marussia facility -- previously also the Ascari sports car
marque’s home.
“In life, what you cannot buy is time,” said Steiner. “So sometimes it’s just working it through and trying to make your decision. In
the end, you always get a few parts of the puzzles that you still need to rush through, and you will be panicking. We are trying to do
the best job possible.
“A lot of people didn’t believe us because we didn’t make announcements, but this is ongoing now, and we just want to tell people
when it’s actually done, and not what we are dreaming of, and then having them say it didn’t work out. We’ve been in the wind
tunnel for months now. It’s real, and we will continue to do this.”
By Adam Cooper
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY
Formula One
Mexican Formula One race already sold out
Formula One
Plenty of tickets available for F1 Austrian Grand Prix
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Gene Haas isn't ruling out Danica Patrick for F1 team
Formula One
Esteban Gutierrez may be early favorite for Haas F1 Team ride
2015 Formula One Schedule
Date
Name
Time
5/24/2015 Monaco Grand Prix NBC, Sun., TBA
6/7/2015 Canadian Grand Prix NBC, Sun., TBA
6/21/2015 Austrian Grand Prix NBCSN, Sun., TBA
7/5/2015 British Grand Prix
CNBC, Sun., TBA
7/19/2015 German Grand Prix Canceled
See Full Schedule »
Related Stories
Formula One World Motor Sport Council must approve F1 Strategy Group's proposed changes
Formula One Plenty of tickets available for F1 Austrian Grand Prix
Formula One Niki Lauda expects Ferrari to stay close to Mercedes in F1 title chase
Racing Toyota driver Todd Gilliland becomes youngest ARCA winner at 15
Formula One Jackie Stewart calls today's F1 'too complex'
Story Topics
Formula One, Racing
GET MORE AUTOWEEK
Magazine
Car news, reviews, motorsports, auto shows and stunning photography delivered right to your mailbox.
Subscribe Today
Digital Subscription
Take Autoweek to go on your digital device and get the car news you want, wherever you are.
Subscribe Now
Free Newsletters
Get the best of autoweek.com – including breaking news, racing updates and daily features.
Sign Up Today
My Account
Media Kit
Content Licensing
RSS Feed
Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Contact Us
Send Us Your Tips
All Content © 2015 Crain Communications, Inc.