"Is your Fiat 500 Italian? (The ones delivered in the US are made in Mexico.)" Just to be specific, the FIAT 500 and Abarths sold in the US are built in Mexico with engines from Detroit, while the 500X, 500L, and future 124 Spiders will be built in places like Europe or Japan. For crying out loud, the Ram Promaster line of trucks is built in Turkey, doesn't seem to bother anyone. The Jeep Renegade Trailhawk is built on a FIAT platform in Italy, etc, etc, etc.
My point is pretty clear. The Haas team is European with an American marketing group and ownership. If McLaren was bought tomorrow by an American, would we call it the next day an "American Team"? I don't think so. I do agree with the "globalization" issue. You are 100% correct. In fact, what should happen is they should remove countries entirely from "teams" as its a joke. Force India is not "Indian" and Haas is not "American". They are simply marketing gimmicks to create artificial rivalries and get groups of people to like one team more than another by patriotism. Seriously...if Haas was not branded "American", would anyone really care about them than any other mid pack generic team? No, which is why they have the American flag on the side. I'm not anti Haas. I think what they did in the last race was amazing. I'm only against this notion that "countries" actually make these cars anymore as they don't.
I believe that long term Haas will build more of their own components and become more "American." I also think they will have an American driver in the next 5 years.
Apple are headquartered in California but have major global offices around the world, a huge percentage of their workforce isn't American, most of their suppliers are not American, they are financially tied to Ireland and their products are made in Asia by Asians. American company?
Yes, this topic is not going to go very far. As many have mentioned, we are in a global economy. Long gone are the days of Red (Italy), Green (UK), Blue (France) and Silver (Germany), in which teams had really distinct identities. The Benetton name recently came to me. That was a British team that changed to being Italian, correct? How does everyone remember it? Did it feel more italian in the end?
I'm not sure Benetton ever 'became' Italian. (?) All their nationalities are based purely on which MSA submits their entry to the FIA. In the UK, that's the RAC. Here in the States, I guess AAA. Doesn't matter (at least as far as the 'anthems' are concerned where you're based, just 'where'd the entry come from?' ) Cheers, Ian
I believe that in 5 years time Gene Haas will come to the conclusion that the cost of participating in F1 is not worth the revenue it generates and will call it a day!
I believe that not only will Haas be around and be a mid-pack team in 5 years but that they will also encourage other American outfits, such as perhaps Penske for example, to have a go at F1 as well.
Haas could become the posterboy and billboard for US companies to advertize on a global scale. Just like Sauber attracted Swiss companies and sponsors. Except that the US economy is sooooo much bigger
+1 For now at least he seems quite happy to fund it himself. But I'm sure for the right # of $, he'd give up some space....... Cheers, Ian
Is he going to be happy blowing $1Billion on F1 over the next four years? : Haas F1 Team will have to spend $1 billion in first four years
Haas is a very smart man who I am sure calculated his cost/benefit ratio before fully committing to F1. So I would say yes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Interesting. I know of hillclimb courses in Switzerland, and the famous Ursane-les-Rangiers hillclimb that is part of the European Mountain Championship, but I don't know of any race track. Can you name any ?
Nothing grand, but there are a few minor ones like Lignieres, Wohlen, Niederweningen and Lyss. More important are the temporary ones, which they set up wherever it suits them, mostly on former military airport bases (e.g. Duebendorf). In fact some years ago when the Swiss Auto Party (yes, there is such a thing) launched an initiative to get an approval/exception for a return of the Swiss F1 Grand Prix, their proposal was based on exactly that: Using a former military airport (IIRC in Valais) for the track and set up temporary grandstands. PS: Some of the racing I did in Switzerland was in quarries or on ice fields. All temporary set ups of course.
He's not that smart!: Gene Haas - 'I was kind of naive' about F1 He underestimated how complex F1 is? - Really? Now I'm in no way the smartest man on the planet (as many on Fchat will be more than happy to attest to! ), but even I can work out that building an F1 car and team is mind blowingly complex! And let's not forget: Haas Automation owner gets 2 years in prison for tax fraud So he deliberately infringed on a rivals patent (and got caught!), and then tried to con the tax man out of $75 Million (and got caught again!). The smart men are the one's that never get caught!
Question is not whether he was caught, but whether he ended up spending anytime whatsoever behind bars. I don't know the answer to this but I'm willing to bet he didn't Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
From Wikipedia: "On the morning of June 19, 2006, Haas was arrested by IRS agents for investigation of filing false tax returns, witness intimidation, and conspiracy.[18] Four others were indicted together with Haas, all of whom pled guilty. Just before Haas's case was to go to trial, a plea agreement was reached with Haas, whereby he would plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit tax evasion. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $75 million in restitution. Haas was incarcerated beginning January 2008 and was released on probation May 2009 after serving 16 months of his two-year sentence."
Wow! I am surprised. Well, I stand corrected. Doesn't seem to have hurt his lifestyle, his company, nor his F1 budget though. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
