Having had their place on the Formula One grid granted, American team owner Gene Haas has confirmed that they will defer their entry until 2016.
The FIA announced in December that they had opened the tendering process for a new team to enter Formula One as early as 2015.
The Formula One paddock shrank to eleven teams after the former Hispania/HRT team dissolved at the end of the 2012 season.
It brought an end to the team after just two seasons.
So the news of a new ’12th team’ to enter the sport is excellent news, especially a veteran motor sport team like that of American outfit Haas.
Haas has had many years in American motor racing, he co-owned the Indy Car team Newman-Haas which 1992 Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell won the 1993 title with and alongside Tony Stewart, he now owns a team in USA’s top motor sport series NASCAR.
He’s also affiliated with Guenther Steiner, a former technical director at Red Bull and Jaguar and will bring a fresh approach to the Formula One grid.
Haas has previously opened talks with Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara regarding their first development, however there has yet to be any news on a possible engine deal.
When Haas look to enter Formula One they will have four engine manufacturers to hold talks with; Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, and Honda, who return to the sport with McLaren in 2015.
‘The plan is absolutely to launch in 2016 and we are fully committed to that. I don’t think there is any doubt about that whatsoever,’ he told Forbes magazine as quoted by Sky Sports.
‘I think we will be a better team because we will have more time to plan and we will be able to do a lot more engineering in Kannapolis.
‘From a personal standpoint, I really would have liked to go racing in 2015. It was hard to sit there and say no. Trust me, I really wanted to go.
‘The first year is always going to be tough, but I think by waiting a year we will probably only have six months of it being really tough because we will be better prepared.’
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