It's a PR stunt to sell CNC machines. The flag is quite irrelevant.
Haha. Yep. As I was typing I got to Merc/Red Bull and I thought....hold off, I'm having significant double standards here!
I think that's a little harsh! Sure, he's on record as saying he wants to increase exposure for his manufacturing company. Nothing wrong there IMO. His hospitality folks entertain some potential customers in <wherever>, he may just get a sale he wouldn't have otherwise. It's all about schmoozing (potential) customers..... Good luck to the guy. He's certainly built a powerhouse team in NASCAR - he knows his way around the game. And as Igor noted, should they ever win, the anthem will be the Star Spangled Banner. Seems pretty American to me. Cheers, Ian
It's American. Didn't see any poll options I wanted to select. Is Mercedes/AMG/Petronas German? Based in the UK with 1k people. What percentage of employees are actually German?
I agree, he says the increase of exposure to his CNC business is a way to justify the expense. Looks like it could be a win-win for him. He's a smart business man that loves racing...works for me!
+1 Either that, or it'll bankrupt him! +1 And I think he got into it with his eyes wide open. Unlike some others we could mention....... Cheers, Ian
not sure how taxes in the States work but surely he can operate the majority of the team and write it off as marketing expense?
The money is American...LOL! So...yes, definately. Ford used UK for HQ in F1...you go "where the talent is..."
It's probably a bad idea to put "racing" and taxes" into the same sentence...LOL! I personally never have. That said, the main "goodwill" in racing is from the corporate entertainment. Look at the millions of $$$ that "washed" into Level 5.
The poll choices are just about all the same. I don't really consider it an American team. There hasn't really been a truly American team since Scarab.
Red Bull and Toro Rosso are PR "stunts" to sell energy drinks; Mercedes, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari are PR "stunts" to sell cars; Sauber, Manor, Force India and Williams race cars And they all have PR "stunt" logos plastered all over them.
Let's flip this a bit. Is Ferrari an Italian F1 team? The Turbo is American, the radiators are American, the Pistons are Mahle from Austria, the crankshaft is from Pankl in Austria, the drivers are not Italian, half the engineers are from the UK, etc... Take any of the teams and you will end up with the same comments.
You may have to wait for a long time for that !! Haas is no different than Eagle or Beatrice; an US team operating from UK.
Most of F1 is based in the UK no mater the name on the badge. The Ford GT project that got so many of us waving American flags in the 60's was almost exclusively a UK project except the motors and transaxle internals. Several years ago I was at Ferrari on business and I was walking around the factory cafeteria with my lunch tray looking for my group. Its a big place, I couldn't find them. Suddenly I heard a very large group taking up an entire table speaking English with various Crown Colony accents. I asked if I could sit with them because at least we spoke the same language. I finally got a chance to ask why they were in the employee cafeteria and was told they were all F1 guys and that most of them outside the engineers were Brits. Get over it.
I understand that a team's nationality is defined by its entrant's FIA license. Therefore, Red Bull is Austrian, although based in UK. Renault is French, although based in UK. Force India is Indian, although based in UK. Mercedes is German, although it is based in UK. etc... I suppose that Haas races under an US entrant's license, but has its operation base in UK too.
Mercedes and Red Bull are PR stunts. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and others were created to race. Yes, now they have to do PR stunts too to keep afloat, that´s the way it is, but they´re in a different league. Back on track, Haas is buying almost all the entire car to non-American companies like Dallara and Ferrari and is assembled at Great Britain. Is it an American team? Well, it has an American license so I suppose that it´s American. Honestly, if I was American I wouldn´t give a dang about it, just like I don´t care that Ferrari is Italian: I´d be a ferrarista anyway if Ferrari was Swedish or Rhodesian.
this whole debate is pretty funny, considering that Ferrari (the company) is now separate from FIAT and is registered in Holland. They're still Italian to me. Doesn't matter. Rich business guy takes a risk and builds a NASCAR team, then creates an F1 team? He's the guy with skin in the game, that makes it American enough for me. Sauber is Swiss. Is Scuderia Toro Rosso Italian? Who cares.
To consider Mercedes racing a stunt is an interesting comment considering they were building automobiles before Enzo was born and their list of international racing accomplishments dating back to the earliest days of motorsport makes Ferrari look like a one trick pony.
It's only funny if you think of where you register, which is really my point. Does anyone doubt that Ferrari doesn't design, build and base it's F1 team Italy -- and staff most of it's workers with Italians? Does anyone doubt that McLaren doesn't design, build and base it's F1 team in England -- and staff most of its workers with Englishman? Does anyone doubt that German engineering is all over the Mercedes car and engine? But does anyone think Americans are involved in the Haas car in anything aside from supplying cash and marketing? They may be "American" in the same way that Force India is "Indian" --- which means in name only. Perhaps this was the easiest way to get quick results, but it also looks like a label slap of an American flag on the side of a European team entry.
