Haas F1 Team Debut Season Review
Gene Haas made headlines in 2015 when it was announced that he would be entering a team to compete in Formula 1. The team, which is based out of Kannapolis, North Carolina, is the first F1 team to be based in the United States in thirty years. The boldness of Haas should be noted, as the last American based team to win a F1 grand prix was by Team Penske in 1976. However, Gene Haas is certainly a person that can bring F1 success back to America.
Gene Haas is already the co-owner of Haas’s NASCAR outfit, Stewart-Haas, which hails championship caliber drivers like Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. Haas has expanded their Kannapolis, NC base by 200,000 square feet to accommodate the activities of more than 280 new employees. Haas also has a European base in Banbury, UK that helps expedite cars and parts to circuits in Europe. All this comes at a steep cost however, as Haas had a budget for 2016 of 100 million dollars. Prize money from the FIA will help cover expenses in the future, but one of the cons of creating a new team is that Haas will miss out on “historical” bonuses reserved for teams that have been in the sport for decades, such as Ferrari and McLaren.
Haas driver lineup for the year included French veteran Romain Grosjean and Mexican young gun Esteban Gutierrez. Haas roared onto the scene in the debut race of the season in Australia as Grosjean was able to grab a sixth place finish, punching well above the new team’s weight. This also rewarded the team with a handful of World Championship points (which are awarded to the top ten finishers in amounts corresponding to finish). It was a bittersweet day though, as Gutierrez was involved in a massive crash with Fernando Alonso of McLaren ending in a DNF. Grosjean was established early as the team’s primary driver. Grosjean was able to score points in 3 out of the first 4 races, including an astonishing fifth place drive in Bahrain.
However, Haas hit a massive mid season slump. With a focus already on their 2017 car, Haas stopped developing their VF16 entry, which quickly fell to the middle of the pack in speed. Even though Haas is powered by a Ferrari engine, its aerokit does not provide substantial downforce as compared to the top teams. Still Haas managed to score a grand total of 29 World Championship Constructors points, causing them as a team to finish in 8th out of a possible 11.
So where does Haas F1 Team go from here? Well they haven’t waited long to answer part of that question. The team has already decided to not resign Esteban Gutierrez for 2017, as he failed to score any points in all 21 races. To replace him, the team signed ex-Renault driver Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen is a Swedish driver who is highly desired throughout the F1 world. He has raced for McLaren and Renault, scoring points with both and has a second place podium finish to his name. He is young at just 24 years of age, and will pair well with Romain Grosjean as point-scoring threats.
The team has further stapled North Carolina as the heart of American automotive racing, and has created numerous jobs in the Kannapolis area. Whether Haas will eventually be World Champions remains unknown, but a successful first season gives hope that America is here to stay in Formula 1.
