Mr Haas' own words from motorsports: CONCORD, N.C. – Gene Haas did not mince words on Monday. He’s determined to prove that a Formula One team made in America cannot only survive but thrive in the most competitive motorsports arena in the world. The motivation for the 61-year-old industrialist is two-fold. Primarily, Haas, who owns one the largest CNC tool manufacturing operations, wants to market his products globally and F1 will allow him to “enhance his branding†on a greater scale than NASCAR, which is limited to North America. “The ultimate goal is to take the image of Haas Automation and turn it into a brand that is desired and high-quality and known throughout the world,†Haas said. “The ultimate goal would be to double our sales for Haas Automation. “I think it’s going to be positive. As an indicator, I’m using the relationship with NASCAR that we have here including the brands we have in the United States. We have a very good market share, good market penetration and it’s as simple as to replicate that overseas.†Secondly, despite short-lived effort of the USF1 team, Haas is convinced that an American-based team can compete against the established F1 juggernauts of Europe. Haas feels that with the current F1 rules packages, the timing is right for an aspiring team to enter the series and dispel the notion that “Americans can’t do itâ€. “I'm here to prove that we can do it, and we can do it with a budget and we can be efficient at it and we can win at it,†Haas said. “That's what I'm going to try. I'm not saying that I'm better than anybody else. I just have a different way of doing it, and people that I work with think differently. That, I guess, is going to be the secret to our success in this business. “We're going to spend our money wisely. We're going to do it with an American flair for design and efficiencies, and that's how we're going to control our costs. I don't we're not going to be a European led team. We're going to be an American led team and we'll do it the way we think is the most efficient.†Yes, this is an ambitious undertaking for Haas. He wasn’t joking when asked about his budget that “it’s going to be billions and billions†to be operational. And he has just over a month to inform the FIA as to whether Haas Formula intends to race in 2015 or 2016. “We will announce in the next weeks, four to six, I would say, what we are doing,†said Formula Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. “Then it's only eight months to go. So we need to do it rather soon. “But we want to make the right decision. We don't want to jump and say wow, we got this one wrong and then fade.†Certainly, Haas’ timetable will depend on the support of his technical partners. Similar to his introduction to NASCAR where he relied on Hendrick Motorsports to get up to speed, Haas will rely on the relationship of his potential F1 partners as well. Formula Haas’ home base will be in Kannapolis, N.C. adjacent to the existing Stewart-Haas Racing shop. The company is currently adding 150,000 sq. ft. With Haas Automation satellites in Brussels and Shanghai, there is already a global base, but Haas expects to have a secondary shop in either Germany or Italy likely dependent on whether he partners with Mercedes or Ferrari. Haas will likely use Dallara for his chassis, but his eventual goal is to develop the components to compete for the Constructors championship. As for prospective drivers, in the beginning Haas would like to use racers that are already familiar with the current engine rules package then eventually phase in American talent. Steiner would prefer not entertainment drivers searching for buy rides but rely on racers with raw talent. For now, Haas intends on maintaining a clean car free of sponsorship outside of the Haas brand. He believes that any additional support would “dilute†his marketing strategy. However, a five-year plan is in place to “make this a profitable enterprise†and that will involve additional sponsors in order “to make money and competeâ€. “I wouldn't be doing it if I thought I was going to fail,†Haas said. “But I'll try it even if I do fail, but that's the challenge of it all. The challenge of it all is proving other people wrong. That would be the greatest satisfaction is beingable to go out there and do what other Americans haven't done, which is, I guess, the definition of success.â€
Who's surprised? Anyone? I'm a little curious to read the FIA's "full reasoning" to see if there's any other side to this outcome other than rejecting the appeal itself, but I'm not surprised they rejected it.
Nah, not surprised......I knew they didn't have a snowball's chance, but I'm glad they stood up to the FIA anyway.
Not surprised. The (political) game's gotta be played. I'm sure RB knew they were going to lose, but had to appeal so the F1 circus can make it be known their rules are "strictly enforced".
Bring back active suspension because it would be cheaper? Seems counter-intuitive to me, but whatever works. Other interesting ideas mentioned as well. Formula 1 teams considering lifting ban on active suspension (Autosport.com)
Reports from Italy have confirmed that Stefano Domenicali did not resign from Ferrari as claimed yesterday and was actually used as a swap for a Mercedes engine. ‘The F14 T is not powerful enough,’ an insider confided to Sniff Petrol last night. ‘And the team was sick of Stefano capering about the factory doing impressions of Eric Morecambe rather than concentrating on new wind tunnel data and such like. This secret deal to swap him for a Mercedes engine solves both problems at once.’ Our Ferrari mole confirmed that a Mercedes V6 was covertly handed to the team this morning and will be installed in Fernando Alonso’s car prior to this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. ‘Fernando will stop at nothing to win so he gets the Mercedes engine,’ our spy explained. ‘Whereas Kimi doesn’t even know who he’s driving for and will be happy as long as there’s enough Grey Goose in his drinks bottle.’ In return for supplying an engine that isn’t total dog ****, the Mercedes GP team gets full ownership of bespectacled being-on-television enthusiast Stefano Domenicali to do with as they choose. Sources in Brackley recently admitted that the team was worried many of its senior personnel come across as Germanic and sinister during TV interviews and it’s possible they will appoint the affable Domenicali as official spokesman to mitigate those concerns. However, it seems more like that the ex-team principal will be kept at the Merc factory and used by Toto Wolff for ‘experiments’.
I just noticed that Haas said the FIA gave him the option to start up in 2015 or 2016 but he has to choose by "around June." Lifted from formula1.com:
SPOILER ALERT: The race had a surprise ending. Chinese GP called two laps early after checkered flag mix-up (nbcsports.com)
I thought the race was OK. As long as you weren't wanting to see a fight for the lead. Some decent racing back in the pack. Hamilton did a Vettel to the field. Part of what made this race somewhat boring was the cracker of a race that took place in Bahrain. Sure do wish all the races could be like that one.
It was kind of boring. I was hoping for some of the rain that they had during qualifying. I had to double check, but there were only two DNFs in this race, where there has been 5+ for the first 3 races. I think the DNFs have brought another level of suspense this season so far.