Some interesting news today from Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport (translated article) has mentioned Californian entrepreneur and NASCAR team owner Gene Haas among the short list of new bids expected for new Formula 1 teams in 2015.
America’s last attempt at creating an F1 team was with USF1 Team, but the operation closed its doors in 2010 without a chassis design, leaving many US fans of the sport wondering how and when the country would get back on the grid.
In addition to operating the world’s largest manufacturer of CNC automated machine tool manufacturers, Haas co-owns the Stewart-Haas NASCAR team and is the sole owner of the world largest rolling roadbed wind tunnel facility, the Wind Shear wind tunnel, used by race car developers around the world, including current Formula 1 teams.
According to the article, Haas would enter the 2015 season with a chassis of his own design to be built by Dallara initially, with engines and transmissions from Ferrari. Former Red Bull team manager Gunther Steiner was mentioned as a possible candidate to lead the effort.
UPDATE (1:30pm): Gene Haas has confirmed that he has responded to the FIA’s call for new team entrants through a statement released today:
We have responded to the FIA’s ‘call for expression of interest’ regarding a Formula One entry on behalf of Haas Racing Development… We respect the FIA’s evaluation process and will share more details in the coming weeks.
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Lets hope this works and the US can have a team, hopefully a competitive team!
Lets hope this works and the US can have a team, hopefully a competitive team!