A New Formula From the U.S. of A: HAAS F1

• October 23, 2015
• / Story By
  Curtis Cummings

2016 is shaping up to be a huge year for U.S. motorsports in European and other international racing events. The Ford GT Supercar has been testing at Sebring with a huge rear wing and diffuser in preparation for twin attacks in both United SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. There is a tremendous buzz about this car happening across the motorsports spectrum. Development is progressing furiously and Ford isn’t shy about their goal of Blue Oval dominance at the famed 24Hrs of LeMans. Actor and Porsche driver Patrick Dempsey just scored his first win in the GTE-AM Class at the Six Hours of Fuji. He will be running a full schedule in both the U.S. and Europe next year and The Dempsey Proton Racing Team is sure to score more victories both here and on the continent. Photo courtesy of Ford Motorsports. In Formula One, there hasn’t been a significant U.S. presence since the Phil Hill/DanGurney/Mario Andretti glory days of the 60’s and70’s. Massuria F1 test driver and GP2 contender Alexander Rossi has finally been promoted to take the big seat for the upcoming U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. A solid result could mean that an American driver will be in an F1 cockpit for the first time since Scott Speed in 2007. Photo courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari. Formula One has always been a tough road for U.S. teams. The last time an F1 car from the states won a Grand Prix was in Austria ‘76 with Irishman John Watson at the wheel of a Roger Penske-built car. Penske pulled out at the end of the season after three years of mixed results and it wasn’t until the mid- 80’s until the Carl Haas-Lola team gave it a try. Two seasons of lukewarm results and a loss of sponsorship put an end to their efforts. Photo courtesy of Haas F1. F1 is the most expensive form of motor racing, so much so that new upstart teams are usually crippled by the astonishing costs. Top teams like Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari will routinely spend $200 million and up to field and develop a two-car team for a single season. It’s an intimidating environment for any new and untried organization, but that challenge makes it even more appealing to NASCAR heavyweight, Gene Haas.  Always one to innovate, Haas founded Haas Automation and made a fortune in the 80’s and 90’s pioneering and manufacturing CNC machine tools. The racing bug bit hard and in 2002 a new NASCAR team; Haas CNC Racing hit the track. For the next six years there would be only scattered good results. Haas knew that something drastic would have to happen if they were ever going to step up to the top tier. He approached then- top driver Tony Stewart, offering a 50% stake in the team if he would join them.  Stewart-Haas Racing was born and were immediate contenders for the championship with multiple wins and podium results. Photo courtesy of Stewart-Haas Racing. Haas currently runs cars for top NASCAR drivers Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.  He is one of only four team owners to win in all three national touring series; the other three being heavyweights Jack Roush, Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick. And in early 2014 he did something unexpected. Rumors flew that Haas was thinking about an entry into auto racing’s most difficult series. In April 2014, Haas confirmed that the FIA had granted him a license. A month later, he announced that entry would be delayed until the 2016 season.  Officially called the Haas F1 Team, a steep learning curve began. Right from the start Haas F1 knew that they wouldn’t be able to match the major F1 teams in budget. Pushing deal-making into high gear, they had to figure out how to create an all-new car and team on about half of what Mercedes is spending, something around $100-110 million. The team is unique in that their F1 design center is in North Carolina adjacent to their NASCAR headquarters and their race operations are based in England with the rest of the F1 regulars. A deal with proven single-seat manufacturer Dallara in Italy to provide a chassis and with Ferrari to supply the extremely expensive engine packages is working to streamline the development process. Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault supply engines to all the teams and the current formula of turbo-hybrid V-6 power costs each team around $30 million per season. Photo courtesy of Ferrari. Hass has coolly stated that costs are relative, ”Our business model in Formula One is based on our NASCAR race team where we use other people’s engines and chassis.” He cites the failure of Caterham and Marussia, both of whom started with nothing and built cars, machined parts and became actual constructors by building whole cars on compressed schedules. “I look at it and say it’s insanity. I don’t see how you learn. If you want to become a doctor, you have to spend ten years going to medical school. You’ve got to learn from somebody. That’s why we partnered with Ferrari.” Cutting costs and the learning curve makes Haas’s two-car F1 budget comparable to running a four-car NASCAR team. Photo courtesy of Team Lotus F1. In September Haas named experienced Lotus F1 jockey Romain Grosjean as his first driver. Regarded as a potential World Champion if given the right equipment, choosing the French 29-year-old as team leader is another smart decision from Haas F1. But no one is underestimating what the team will have to face when the 2016 season kicks off in Australia. “It is basically an experiment to see if this new way of doing things is beneficial and also whether a new team can be competitive… if we do it right we will look like geniuses. If we can get it half-right, that would be pretty awesome.”