…this is a huge step but seems very interesting. Would love to see these guys pull it off, but there will definately be a big learning curve.
Not sure what kind of global presence Haas Automation has, but that must be the goal here. No reason to spend 100s of millions to try and woo North American customers. F1 is so far off the radar in North American it is a shame.
From the article:
If you’re not familiar with Formula 1, it can make NASCAR look pretty reasonable financially. Earlier in the week, Ecclestone said Haas would need** to be prepared to spend $1 billion over four years.**** Yes, that’s billion with a “b.”**
That is serious coin. How do they ever make that kind of money back?
2 Likes
The driver will have to lose a bunch of weight and learn how to turn to the right.
8 Likes
Needs to be an american driver. AJ Allmendinger or Sam Hornish could probably pull it off.
7 Likes
Do you know how to make a small fortune in auto racing? Start with a large fortune.
But seriously, you need sponsors with deep pockets.
Patrick Dempsey did a documentary leading up to LeMans. It was interesting and that budget is much smaller.
From the article:
If you’re not familiar with Formula 1, it can make NASCAR look pretty reasonable financially. Earlier in the week, Ecclestone said Haas would need** to be prepared to spend $1 billion over four years.**** Yes, that’s billion with a “b.”**
That is serious coin. How do they ever make that kind of money back?
Sponsorships, and if you place well in the constructors championship it’s serious $$$. Prize structure isn’t public knowledge, but word is Red Bull made several hundred million for winning last year. Finish last and I’m pretty sure it’s nothing.
“Needs to be an american driver.”
Maybe Phil Hill or Mario Andretti can come out of retirement.
5 Likes
There’s been some buzz for Alexander Rossi.
Boudais didnt start F1 until he was almost 30 so I wonder if Marco Andretti could make a run.
4 Likes
“I wonder if Marco Andretti could make a run”
The biggest American disappointment in F1 was Michael Andretti. He was McLaren team mate with the great Ayrton Senna in the early 90’s and went nowhere. He was a joke on the F1 circuit and did nothing. He refused to move to England where the race team was located and commuted from the USA for every race which you can’t do if you want to win Euro F1 races. Totally dumb. You have to live where the action is. Even his dad Mario gave him heck over this at the time. Mario was an F1 champ and understood F1 and knew that Michael was not making a full commitment.
Mario was the “godfather” and as a young man was a stuggling racer barely able to pay the bills who went on to motorsport greatness because he had the hunger. The rest of the family has been riding his shoulders since IMHO. I’d love to see another Andretti go on to F1, but it would take a committment that goes well past just the family name.
2 Likes
Although would like to see an American develop within the team like an Alexander Rossi or Conor Daly, I’m guessing they would sign the best experienced F1 driver(s) that they could contract. Or they could get someone with NASCAR experience like Jean Gerard to return back to F1…
Is there any connection to Carl Haas?
There was a Haas F1 team back in the 80s. Australia’s last F1 World Champion, Alan Jones drove for them when Australia was given an F1 race in 1985.
Since approx 1/2 of the races are outside of Europe now, does your statement about where to live still stand?
1 Like
" does your statement about where to live still stand?"
If I was hired to race F1 I’d want to live as close to the factory as possible. Most drivers do. Its true that some drivers have no technical knowledge, but I’d still want to be near the team and know what’s happening on a daily basis. We have a friend who works for Williams F1 in the UK and when my brother visited them, the drivers were both hanging around the plant that day as they both lived nearby. When Michael Andretti refused to move to the UK when he was hired by McLaren, IMHO that showed a clear lack of commitment, which translated in his poor showing, especially when compared to his team mate Senna, who did move from Brazil to the UK…
Needs to be an American driver. AJ Allmendinger or Sam Hornish could probably pull it off.
Travis Pastrana