USF1 - part 2???

Forget the driver - get the thing off the ground. I'm with a few here - totally skeptical because this effort takes balls and bucks. Haas has both, and anything short of a full on NASCAR team owner is fooling themselves if they think they can make it.

No shortage of talent - even Newey was in CART with March. If you got the money (bucks) and you can stomach the effort (balls), then I'll believe it.

Already not liking the idea of Dallara-sourced chassis.

I'm with Bas - maybe even a little more lenient with what "success" is...field a freakin' car, and that will be a miracle IMHO.

 

Here's Bernie's take.

Ecclestone casts doubt on American team joining F1 - Racer.com

 

Long way from here to the grid for another F1 team, Ecclestone says. (LAT photos)


Bernie Ecclestone says the new Formula 1 team proposed by NASCAR team co-owner Gene Haas is “most unlikely” to get the green light due to the high costs of entering the sport.

In December, the FIA opened a tender for a 12th team to join from 2015 and last week Gene Haas, joint owner of NASCAR's Stewart-Haas Racing, announced that he had made an application. However, Ecclestone said: “They have been talking about it for three years. Two or three people there. I would say it is most unlikely.”

Haas is also the founder of engineering firm Haas Automation, which has an annual revenue of around $1 billion, while Guenther Steiner, a former technical director of four-time F1 champions Red Bull Racing, is understood to be working alongside Haas on the project.

“It's no good proving someone has got the money,” says Ecclestone. “Somebody can have 10 billion in the bank but it doesn't mean they are going to spend it. It's nothing to do with having enough resources. You can't tell them to make a commitment because it's a commitment to do what? It's always been like that.”

Ecclestone is actively involved with analyzing the new team despite his recent exit from the board of F1's parent company Delta Topco prior to him standing trial for bribery. He continues to run the sport on a day to day basis, although the decision on the new team is not his responsibility anyway: It will be made by the FIA on Feb. 28 and if Haas is successful it would be the first American squad in Formula 1 since the mid-1980s. The sport has not had an American full-time driver since Scott Speed who drove for Toro Rosso in 2007.

The FIA's decision to open a tender for a new team was a surprise even for many F1 insiders, as several of the existing outfits are barely managing to keep their wheels turning. Budgets have accelerated in recent years and hit an estimated $211m in 2013. Several drivers complained about not being paid last year and two of the most embattled teams, Lotus and Marussia, were listed as “subject to confirmation” on the 2014 F1 entry list which was released earlier this month.

At the end of 2012, Spanish-based HRT closed its doors, leaving the 12th spot vacant. When HRT joined in March 2010 another American-based team, US F1, was also granted an entry but never made the grid after running into financial difficulties. There was so little interest in filling the 13th slot that the FIA formally closed the tender for it in September 2010.

Since then, however, interest in F1 in the United States has increased, fueled by the United States Grand Prix which, after a five-year hiatus, made a successful return to the F1 calendar in 2012 at Austin's Circuit of The Americas.

In addition to Haas, others understood to have filed a team entry application are former HRT boss Colin Kolles and Stefan GP, a Serbian organization that was bidding for an F1 entry in 2010. However, Ecclestone says that the decision to open the grid slot was driven by Haas.

“The FIA is not introducing a new team,” said Ecclestone, “the team is asking for an entry. Somebody has asked, ‘Can we have an entry.' I doubt they will get in.”

 

Not as a Nascar driver, and that had everything to do with his record. To put things into perspective, Montoya's teammate won the Brickyard 400, Daytona 500, Talladega 500, etc. Nascar's biggest races.

Montoya won at Watkins Glen once I believe. He just didn't have what it took to hack it in Nascar. Maybe a Nascar driver could hack it in F1, maybe not. I'm just pointing out that its not quite as impossible as many on here (that have probably never watched a Nascar race in their lives) would lead you to believe.

 

I'm no fan of JPM but to suggest he did not have what it took to hack it in NASCAR is absurd. Really? How many drivers have the skill to pull away IN a corner . . . while sideways? I don't care what form of motor sport one follows, that talent is rare.

JPM's greatest sin is that he probably got a bit too comfy in NASCAR with all the hamburgers, etc.

You can lump me into that group (even though I've not only watched a NASCAR race I've filmed a couple). I'm not gonna slam it. Sans braking, knowing when to put the power down, it's not a complete motor sport for me. Key word here is "me." You may appreciate it and enjoy it . . . I don't.

I have many close friends (some motor sport journalists) who love NASCAR and I have learned that although I do not share their perspective that there is respect due to the pursuit. Whether I personally believe that pursuit is trivial, I respect what they have to offer.

I don't think most F1 drivers would do well in NASCAR, but not due to a lack of ability. That said, I don't agree with your assertion that NASCAR drivers could unlock top 10 pace in F1. I'd offer that you have greatly underestimated the reality of modern F1. How much does Busch weigh? If he's not under 148 he's not gonna stand a chance.

It would be nice to see some of these NASCAR drivers get more involved in sports car racing . . . heck I'd love to see what kind of times Busch and Stewart could post on the Nordschliefe.

 

Of course you have to consider that whenever Bernie gives his "take" there's a very high probability that it's at least partly posturing.

 

I don't have to consider it, though I will consider considering it.

 

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Look at his results. He couldn't even come close to winning more races than his teammate, who was/is far from a top guy in Nascar.

JPM is a great driver, but he will have more fun in Indy Cars this year. Just wasn't a good Nascar driver.

 

Gene Haas interview

Gene Haas in early stages of Formula One plan, nothing settled - Autoweek Racing NASCAR F1 news - Autoweek