Gene Haas' new American F1 team

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Reading between the lines a bit, Adam Cooper is suggesting that ART could be looking to enter along the Haas model - buy as much as possible from other teams, and build their own chassis - in which case this is a bid that has been prepared for some time, and the announcement of the tender process could be the FIA stacking the deck in ART's favour because they see the idea of co-constructor cars as a viable, sustainable way forward:

http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/05/28/fia-opens-up-f1-entry-tender-process-for-2016-17/

It's consistent with Nicolas Todt's comments that ART would seriously consider a bid if conditions were right, and James Allen's piece on the idea of co-constructor cars.
 
prisonermonkeys
The FIA is opening up the bidding process for prospective teams again, with a view to adding another entry as early as 2016:

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119207/fia-seeks-new-f1-team-for-2016

Meanwhile, James Allen asks who might drive for Haas in 2016:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2015/05/who-will-drive-for-haas-f1-team-in-2016/
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I'm thinking Alex Rossi, if he keeps doing good. That will give us an America team with an American driver, but I'm not sure about the driver 2 seat. It would be nice if we could S. Vandoorne, but I'm sure anotger tgem with some cash & history will get Vandoorne,..
 
joetruckv8
I'm thinking Alex Rossi, if he keeps doing good. That will give us an America team with an American driver
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Here's the problem - Rossi isn't great. If he was of any other nationality, he wouldn't be under consideration. That's the problem with picking drivers based on their nationality (or on any variable other than their talent): you end up getting sub-standard drivers who are good for PR purposes, but bad when it comes to their results on-track.
 
prisonermonkeys
Here's the problem - Rossi isn't great. If he was of any other nationality, he wouldn't be under consideration. That's the problem with picking drivers based on their nationality (or on any variable other than their talent): you end up getting sub-standard drivers who are good for PR purposes, but bad when it comes to their results on-track.
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He's had two strong qualifying and places so far. I'm also rooting for Jann M. For GT series purposes too. He has a Podium and a poll so far this year. I'm rooting for them both to keep their momentum going to the end...
 
joetruckv8
He's had two strong qualifying and places so far.
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In his fifth season of GP2 (including GP2 Asia). In fact, in eight seasons of racing in GP2, GP2 Asia, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5, he has had just five race wins. The only reason he is currently second in GP2 is because everyone else - except Vandoorne - has struggled with consistency. In fact, after just six races, Vandoorne already has twice as many points as Rossi.
 
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joetruckv8
He's had two strong qualifying and places so far. I'm also rooting for Jann M. For GT series purposes too. He has a Podium and a poll so far this year. I'm rooting for them both to keep their momentum going to the end...
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The problem is this, to be honest all I've seen on the matter is wanton bias subconsciously due to nationality anytime his name comes up. Hell I'm guilty of doing this in the past when Haas was first showing signs of being the next F1 team. In your case you've done it twice cause as a GT fan you want to see the best out of a fellow GT player (now driver), and really I don't see him getting close to F1 anytime soon.

I'm not trying to be mean to anyone wanting these two to have a driver for this team or whatever new team comes in, but the reality is there is nothing showing that they are going to be more than a Sutil or Trulli. For example as @prisonermonkeys just put it Rossi has been doing this for quite some time and yes early on it looked like he might just be good enough to move on from 3.5 and have early success in GP2 but instead he stayed another season in 3.5. When he did get to GP2 he didn't have speed you'd expect from a veteran of the lower series (2 season in 3.5 and a season in GP3) and his only memorable moments came late in that season. Fast forward that to 2 seasons later and here we are, I mean if Caterham were around in good health sure perhaps Rossi would already be in F1. However, the point is he's like Maldonado or Sam Bird even, at times quick but never enough until it was too late, in the case of one his money got him a drive though if he was financially placed like Bird wouldn't have. These are drivers that were fast only after spending so much time doing it that it should have been expected compared to less experienced folk.

Jann...doesn't have the right backing, GT don't have a hat in the ring when it comes to the Formula branch and thus he's on his own. If he can ever get to F1, I'm sure more people might follow using GT as a tool for that, but until then there is no backing unless he just blisters through the ranks and proves himself. However, even that wont be enough as has been seen.
 
Having drivers just because of their nationality is wrong and should not be practiced. Look at Satoru Nakajima, Aguri Suzuki and Takuma Sato; parachuted in as part of Honda/Mugen deals for Lotus, Ligier, and Jordan and BAR respectively; all were underwhelming but no, Honda need a Japanese driver. Same when Williams had to use Nakajima Jr as part of their Toyota engine deal; just not good enough.

Drivers should be chosen on merit. Period. Haas choosing an underwhelming American just because he's American won't get them further up the grid but finding another Jules Bianchi or Daniel Ricciardo might.
 
The trouble with that is that drivers are hardly ever chosen on merit and usually because of sponsors. I don't see that as all that different from choosing a driver based on nationality.

Besides, if the team is from a country without a real interest in F1 the team has to engage it's own public in the endeavour and the very best way to do that is by using a driver these peolpe can identify with.
 
Tired Tyres
I don't see that as all that different from choosing a driver based on nationality.
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Sponsors bring money. Nationality doesn't. It might get potential sponsors interested, but it is by no means guaranteed - and so choosing drivers based on sponsors is worlds apart from choosing drivers based on nationality.
 
Tired Tyres
...if the team is from a country without a real interest in F1 the team has to engage it's own public in the endeavour and the very best way to do that is by using a driver these peolpe can identify with.
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But that's a long game... get the home crowd interested and all you really do in the short term is increase the potential for TV money, something that all the teams benefit from (in grades, at least).

Having a popular local driver is worth $0, the same as having a driver nobody's heard of. If you're the kind of team that's always chasing cash then you're unlikely to find any merit in a popular 'local' driver, you're going to go for the one with the most sponsorship. If you're the kind of team that's chasing podiums then the likelihood of any given driver being a) genuinely world-class and b) 'local' shrinks massively.

Either way, while local-teams-for-local-people is a nice idea there's little financial merit in the majority of cases.
 
prisonermonkeys
Sponsors bring money. Nationality doesn't. It might get potential sponsors interested, but it is by no means guaranteed - and so choosing drivers based on sponsors is worlds apart from choosing drivers based on nationality.
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A national sponsor wanting a national driver in for their own reasons is no different from any other sponsor wanting their favoured son into a team. They are all doing it for exactly the same reason.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
No one said it was happening, if you read the article it is more speculative than reality but seems to imply due to certain things it's a far more realistic reality than Audi.
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Well I mean even the notion that that's a rumor...that even surprises me. Porsche are deep in their LMP1 and GT projects as is.
 
catamount39
Well I mean even the notion that that's a rumor...that even surprises me. Porsche are deep in their LMP1 and GT projects as is.
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Supposedly they're going to close shop on the GT stuff though, and it'd basically be a customer program only and no more factory.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jun/04/porsche-fia-wrangling-enter-f1

This could be the next entrant, we'll have to wait and see what happens but...interesting read.
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I'm sceptical. It makes more sense than Audi, and if they have their eye on a 2017 entry, it explains why the FIA left the announcement so late - to filter out others by not giving them enough time to make a proper bid - but why go through the rigmarole of the bidding process? Why not do what Toyota did and approach the FIA directly?
 
prisonermonkeys
I'm sceptical. It makes more sense than Audi, and if they have their eye on a 2017 entry, it explains why the FIA left the announcement so late - to filter out others by not giving them enough time to make a proper bid - but why go through the rigmarole of the bidding process? Why not do what Toyota did and approach the FIA directly?
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That'd be too easy. :sly:
 
catamount39
That'd be too easy. :sly:
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I suppose that they wouldn't have much say in it, and a formal announcement of a new bidding process wouldn't affect their preparations. As the article noted, the FIA doesn't want to go through the process just to add two more backmarkers. There always has to be someone at the back, but there needs to be the possibility of upward mobility.

Even if they're playing with a deck stacked in their own favour, the process would give credibility to the FIA and the bid process concept.
 
prisonermonkeys
I don't think she was ever seriously under consideration.
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Haas would be pretty to even consider her to begin especially when her IndyCar and NASCAR record speaks for itself.

Speaking of was its still a shame that american sports media continue to put hype behind, ESPN for example.
 

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