Haas on schedule for 2016 debut

Gene Haas’s fledgling Formula One team say they are on target to be on the grid for the start of next season, following the recent procurement of a European factory and some key staff hirings.

To augment Haas’s United States home in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the team have bought Marussia’s former UK base in Banbury, allowing easier and quicker access to overseas suppliers and streamlined logistics for when the team travels to Formula One venues in Europe.

Key personnel have also been added, notably Dave O’Neill as team manager and Rob Taylor as chief designer, both from Marussia, and former Ferrari man Ben Agathangelou as chief aerodynamicist. Agathangelou and Taylor have already designed the 60-percent scale model of the car Haas will race in 2016, logging numerous hours in the wind tunnel the team share with technical partners Ferrari.

“While there is still a lot of work to do, a lot has already been accomplished for Haas to be competitive when we join the F1 grid in 2016,” said team principal and F1 veteran Gunther Steiner. “Our technical partnership with Ferrari has allowed us to develop our car and our people at an exceptional pace.

“The way we’re going about our F1 team is new and different, but it’s working. We’re committed to our plan, we’re committed to F1 and, most importantly, we’re on schedule. This time next year, our cars will have already been tested and we’ll be readying them for Melbourne.”

If Haas debut at the opening Grand Prix of 2016 they will become the first American-led F1 team in 30 years.