Haas: Start to season will decide F1 team’s future https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/gene-haas-future-team-2021/4712536/ Gene Haas says his team's start to the new season will decide whether or not he commits it to staying in Formula 1 beyond the end of this year.
Super Aguri! Bring them back! IMO this is the boss telling his people to get their crap together, including the drivers.
Haas has been unhappy with it for a while now. Them bailing out is a foregone conclusion at this point.
They keep the very drivers that cost them a chunk of points and money year over year and develop a **** car. I wouldn't be surprised if they bounce.
No idea why they even participate. No loss if they go. Sadly, F1 has always been like this. It’s a snake pit in there and only the fittest survive. Haas has never been in that group and never will be. Just look at their driver pairing - absolutely dreadful. If they were taking F1 seriously, their approach would be very different but this cut price bargain basement approach isn’t going to deliver.
All the same, I will be sorry to see them go, for the only reason they are the only US F1 team since ... Penske perhaps, or is it Beatrice ?. Also I am wondering if someone will buy the team, or if it will fold completely. F1 needs 10 teams on the grid, and could even do with a couple more, IMO. I though Gene Haas' business model of outsourcing most of the hardware would work; it didn't.
I think their driver lineup let them down more than the business model. Gros/Mag share the lion’s share of the blame. The car was very competitive at points during the past seasons and the drivers often bungled the opportunities.
I saw the writing on the wall when they rehired those two. The car was bad last year, but not on the consistent level of bad as the drivers.
The report is not a shock. Haas was/is not a long term racing in F1 operation. This was a marketing experiment. I can see him leaving if the new budget and rules yield similar results for his team. I can see other teams leaving if the new rules/budget are not optimal overall. Good luck Liberty lol
At the minimum... Grosjean had to go... The car was bad last year but the year before, was almost 100% the drivers. If you're going to go out of F1 at least give a kid some visibility and an opportunity.
I think everyone was shocked when they rehired Grosjean, they should've made a hard push for some of the available talent last offseason. I think it would be a shame if they dropped out now, the field could change up quite a bit with the new regs, and I'd hate to see them drop out before that.
It is funny - Haas says as much on ‘Drive to Survive’. If I recall, it is the last clip of the show that focuses on Haas. And like everyone above: it’s not a surprise. And likely the F1 stint hasn’t paid great business dividends overseas.
