Gene Haas recently made quite a stir when he announced that his racing team would be venturing into the world of Formula 1.
American drivers haven't fared so well in F1 as of late, and an American driver hasn't even competed in the series since 2007. We used to have top talent many decades ago, but it's clear that the sport has become a world filled with folks not born stateside. Haas aims to change that.
Initially, it seemed that the debut for his F1 team would come during the 2015 racing season. The initial tricky bit of securing the required FIA approval has been taken care of, which is a massive step in the right direction.
Now it's clear that 2016 is the target. Haas informed the media that the process of creating a team from scratch will be a long one. It certainly makes sense, since the creation of the car alone will be a larger undertaking, not to mention making sure the driving talent is ready for the massive task at hand.
Haas has stated that although he would've loved to hit the grid in 2015, it's just not a smart move at this time. As fans of motorsports, we would love to have seen an American team on the starting line in the next season. As folks who want an American team to be competitive in Formula 1, we're happy to wait until 2016 to make sure everything is sorted properly.
