Gene Haas made the rounds Saturday in the paddock at Circuit of the Americas, enthusiastically shaking hands and attempting to convince people in the business of Formula One that an American race team will succeed. The past, the present and the future perhaps aren’t looking kindly upon his plan, but Haas is getting the pieces and finances in place for a 2016 launch of Haas F1 Team. ‘We’re just getting around the garage,’ Haas told USA TODAY Sports after a day of meeting with F1 officials, manufacturers and team principals Saturday. ‘We had several people from different teams come up and shake hands and introduce themselves. We’re just becoming more noticed around here. It’s going to be a quick year next year, and I want to make sure people know who we are.’ Haas already has a technical partnership in place with Ferrari, and he says things are moving forward with the plan for a team headquarters in Kannapolis, N.C. It’s a tough sell in light of the circumstances surrounding Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, but Haas remains optimistic. Two F1 teams, citing financial difficulty, dropped out in the week leading up to the USGP. Three others are said to be considering a boycott of Sunday’s race, although all three took part in Saturday’s qualifying. Perhaps best known to American race fans as Tony Stewart’s partner in Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR Sprint Cup, Haas, 61, is the founder of Haas Automation, a computer numerical control machine tool manufacturer. The last effort by Americans to launch an F1 team failed. In 2010, former Haas CNC Racing technical director Ken Anderson and former Williams and Ferrari manager Peter Windsor attempted to form USF1 Team, but it fell apart before getting to the racetrack. Haas said he isn’t concerned that his project won’t work. Originally scheduled to launch next season, he postponed the launch earlier this year to 2016. An American driver hasn’t raced in F1 since Scott Speed in 2007, but Haas says he isn’t looking specifically for American drivers, instead leaning toward drivers with F1 experience. At first, anyway. Given the current issues of F1 and the struggles of some of its teams, Haas thinks he could be in good position to find talent, especially experienced F1 engineers.(USA Today)
