NASCAR team owner Gene Haas will be expanding his motor racing empire into Formula 1 following confirmation the FIA has granted his team, Haas Formula LLC, an entry licence.
A World Motor Sport Council release confirmed the entry last Friday: “The FIA has launched a selection procedure for an additional F1 team(s), and applications of a high standard have been received. In close consultation with the commercial rights holder, the FIA has accepted the candidature of Haas Formula LLC and are in the process of conducting further investigations for Forza Rossa.”
Haas spoke to the media overnight and said he was unsure if his team would take the grid next year or in 2016.
“I would like to do 2015, simply because the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,†he said. “It’s a very big challenge and part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going from race to race, and the sooner we learn that, the sooner we’ll be done with that.”
Haas Formula will rely on technical partners and Haas at one stage made reference to “customer car”. The team is expected to choose Mercedes or Ferrari for its power unit and may bring Dallara back to F1 to build its chassis. Dallara previously supplied chassis to the HRT F1 team, who last competed in 2012.
Team headquarters will be based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, with a European facility to be used for assembly and disassembly.
“Ideally what we would like is to have an experienced F1 driver, probably someone who is familiar with the current engine package rules,” Haas explained when asked who he will target to race for the team. “Then going forward we would certainly like to have a young American driver, that would be the ideal situation. At the moment we haven’t really narrowed it down. We’ve had quite a few people talk to us.”
Former Red Bull and Jaguar technical director Guenther Steiner will take on the role of Haas Formula Team Principal.
[Source: Fox Sports | Pic: Getty Images]