After it was announced on Friday that NASCAR joint-team owner Gene Haas team has been granted permission to join the Formula One grid in 2015 as Haas Racing LLC, there is a lot of excitement around as we should see the first American Formula One team since the failed USF1 outfit which tried to join the grid in 2010 and the first successful American Formula One team since Penske back in the 1970s. Penske achieved mild success in 1976 with the British driver John Watson, finishing 5th in the Constructor’s standings with 3 podiums including a win at the Austrian Grand Prix for the one-car team. Penske withdrew the team at the end of that year despite the success to focus on America. The car however, the PC4 continued to race into 1977 though with the ATS team.
Other than this, Dan Gurney’s victory for the Anglo-American Racers (otherwise known as Eagle) in the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix is the only victory for an American team in a World Championship event other than the Indianapolis 500 which was part of the World Championship. Now it would be pretty ambitious for Haas to immediately want to mix with the front runners like Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. In fact, I would be very surprised if they beat the current backmarkers, Caterham and Marussia. But simply making the grid in 2015 would be a remarkable achievement. Also being considered for 2015 is another team, Forza Rossa. This would bring the grid to its maximum capacity of 26 cars, something that Formula One hasn’t seen for about 20 years now. Should this other team also be granted entry, just to beat them would be a good target in their first year. Success doesn’t come overnight in Formula One, and it can take teams many, many years to work their way to the front, especially on a tight budget.
A successful American team, however would be fantastic for a sport which has always struggled to shine in the States. There is also American talent that the team can look at too, like Caterham reserve driver Alexander Rossi, who is tipped to challenge for the GP2 Series title this year. There is also the young Conor Daly, who has shown a good versatility in running both GP2, GP3 and in the IndyCar Series too. I am sure that the team would perhaps like to run an experienced F1 driver alongside a young and impressive American. No drivers have been confirmed as yet though; it’s relatively early in the season for that.
I do hope that we begin to see a growth in popularity for Formula One in America. With an absolutely awesome track in the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, a possible race at Port Imperial, which will be a street circuit too on the cards for 2015, and a brand new American team, and possibly at least one American driver on the grid too, it should help the sport grow in popularity. Not to mention there is the possibility of former IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro becoming a Formula One driver for 2015 too, it shows that perhaps the American open-wheel racing can lead onto making the very top of motorsports.
Gene Haas and Honda’s return are just two big names that have been attracted to Formula One from the new engine regulations introduced for this year, with enhanced energy recovery systems, and the hybrid V6 turbo engines being much more road relevant to the old naturally aspirated V8s. How many more names will be persuaded over the next few years? There are already rumours of Audi and BMW taking interest. But how about the likes of Chevrolet, who currently produce turbo engines in the IndyCar series, and how about Ford, who pulled out of the sport fully last season?
We are entering perhaps a new manufacturer’s return, like we saw last decade before the economic crisis, where Renault, Honda, Toyota and BMW all had success, and in 2006 every race was won by Ferrari, Renault or Honda, all companies that produce both road cars and racing cars. We are also seeing new privateer names in the sport, with the likes of Caterham and Marussia (formerly Lotus Racing and Virgin Racing) slowly closing in on the midfield, and with at least one brand new team, Haas.
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