Formula 1: Red, White and Blue?

Posted by Motorista on April 18, 2014 in Motorsports, News, Ponderings, Videos | 1 Comment

Heard the news? FIA, the governing body of Formula 1, accepted Gene Haas’ application to enter F1. In real-person-speak: a NASCAR team owner just got the go-ahead to form an American Formula 1 team.

Yeehaw, y’all! We’re goin’ Formula 1! ‘Merica!

There have been American F1 teams in the past, but not since the mid-eighties. And an attempt to field a team in 2010 went nowhere. So this is kind of a big deal. And Gene Haas is an owner of NASCAR team Stewart-Haas Racing. You know, the team that fields Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. Yeah, that one. So the newly-formed Haas Formula is the real deal. With real money.

The new team could be ready for the 2015 season, but may defer to 2016. See the Formula1.com story here. No drivers have been announced yet, but Haas said in a recent press conference that he would prefer a current F1 driver who is familiar with the new rules, and hopes to eventually have an American driver (Alexander Rossi, perhaps?). Speculation is rife, but pointless in my opinion. And no, I don’t think Danica Patrick will switch to F1. At least I hope not…

Gene Haas’ press conference on the new team is below. Looking forward to having a “local” team to cheer for! And I’m getting a kick out of this plain-spoken Haas dude.