The Haas F1 Team (its racing name for 2023 is the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team) is an American racing motor racing team that competes in the FIA Formula One World Championship. The team was founded by Gene Haas, the founder of Haas Automation, in 2014.
The Haas F1 Team debuted in 2016, becoming the first American-led team to compete in Formula One since 1986. This article discusses the history, achievements, and future of the Haas F1 Team.
Who Owns Haas F1 Team?
Gene Haas (Canadian), the founder of Haas Automation and co-owner of a NASCAR Cup Series team.
Haas had a long-standing interest in motorsports. In 2002, he formed the Newman/Haas Racing team in the Champ Car World Series with legendary driver Mario Andretti. The team went on to win multiple championships, but Haas eventually decided to sell his stake in the team in 2007.
In 2014, Haas announced that he would be forming a new team to compete in Formula One.
Team Headquarters
The Haas team’s official headquartered is in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. This is 31 mi (50 km) from Charlotte.
Although they are separate entities, Haas NASCAR entrant Stewart-Haas Racing is at the same venue.
Haas F1 Team Engine (Ferrari)
The Haas F1 Team would be based in the United States and would use a partnership with Scuderia Ferrari to design and build its cars.
Haas contracted with the Italian manufacturer – Dallara to build their chassis. Ferrari supplies the power unit.
This resulted in a mixed reception from the other F1 teams. Some saw the low-cost model that Haas had developed as a great way for new teams to join F1 in the future. Some of the smaller teams were suspicious that teaming up with Ferrari would give the team an unfair advantage and provide access to resources that the smaller teams could not match.
This was exacerbated when Haas revealed their 2018 car, which looked almost identical to the previous year’s Ferrari SF70H.
The other teams have never formally complained, but the grievance is still felt.
Guenther Steiner – Team Principal
The team hired veteran Formula One engineer Gunther Steiner as its team principal and began building its infrastructure.
Guenther Steiner, a former Jaguar and Red Bull Racing technical director, is the team principal.
Before the forthcoming season, in January 2016, the team confirmed its new car had passed the mandatory FIA crash tests.
2016 Season
The new Haas F1 Team debuted with drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.
The team had a successful first year and finished eighth in the constructor’s championship with 29 points. Grosjean scored all of the team’s points, with a best finish of fifth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
2017 – Kevin Magnussen – Danish Motorsports Racing Driver
In 2017, the team replaced Gutierrez with Kevin Magnussen. The team had a more difficult season, finishing eighth again with only 47 points. However, the team scored a podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Grosjean in third place.
2018 Season
The team’s fortunes improved in 2018, with the team finishing fifth in the constructor’s championship with 93 points.
Grosjean and Magnussen formed a strong driver lineup, scoring multiple points finishes throughout the season. The team also introduced a major update to its car mid-season, which helped it score its best result with a fourth-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix.
In Singapore, Magnussen achieved the team’s first fastest lap.
The team finished in 5th place in the constructor championships.
The Haas F1 Team 2019 Season
In 2019, the team struggled with consistency, with both drivers struggling to score points regularly.
The team finished ninth in the constructor’s championship with only 28 points, its worst result since its debut in 2016.
The Haas F1 Team 2020 Season
The 2020 season was characterized by an enormous collision between Grosjean and AlphaTauri driver Daniil Kvyat at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Haas split into two distinct pieces and caught alight. Thanks to the HALO protection device, Grosjean was not seriously injured, but he did receive burns and was hospitalized.
This incident ruled him out of the Sakhir Grand Prix to be held the following week, and the Haas reserve driver, Pietro Fittipaldi, drove the car in the Sakhir Grand Prix.
Haas achieved 9th place in the constructor’s championship in 2020.
The Haas F1 Team 2021 Season
Grosjean left the team for the 2021 season. Magnussen remained at Haas as a test and replacement driver.
The two primary drivers contracted for 2021where the Russian rookie – Nikita Mazepin and the 2020 Formula 2 Championship winner Mick Schumacher – Michael Schumacher’s son.
The company managed to stave off bankruptcy with sponsorships provided by companies Nikita’s father was involved in.
The year was a bust on most fronts. Mazepin spun out on the first lap of the first race, and Mick Schumacher was the last car running to finish the race.
The team finished in 10th place (out of 10) in the constructors championship.
The Haas F1 Team 2022 Season
With the illegal invasion of Ukraine, sanctions were imposed on Russian sportsmen and women. As a result, the team had to let Mazepin go and replace him with Kevin Magnussen.
The team had a more positive experience, and Kevin proved an asset.
Haas took their first pole position at the São Paulo Grand Prix, with Magnussen out-qualifying the field in changing conditions to start on pole for the sprint race.
Sadly Magnussen was forced to retire after a collision with Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) at the start of the race.
Unfortunately, Mick Schumacher struggled with the car and had several unnecessary crashes. Mick left the team at the end of 2022 and moved to Mercedes as a reserve driver.
Haas achieved 8th position in the 2022 constructor championships.
The Haas F1 Team 2023 Season
The drivers for the 2023 season are Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg. After the first four races, the team is in 7th position in the constructors championship.
The Haas F1 Team’s Achievements
The Haas F1 Team has had a short but successful history in Formula One. The team has scored 244 points in its five seasons in the sport, with a best finish of fifth in the constructor’s championship in 2018.
The team has also achieved two podium finishes in its history. The first came in 2016, with Grosjean finishing in third place at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The second came in 2018, with Grosjean finishing third at the Austrian Grand Prix.
In addition to its on-track achievements, the Haas F1 Team has also made history off the track. Haas is the first American-led team to compete in Formula One since 1986, and it has helped to raise the profile of motorsports in the United States.
Haas F1 Drivers
Since the team’s foundation, multiple drivers have been affiliated with Haas. These include:
| Drivers | Years With Haas |
|---|---|
| Romain Grosjean | 2016 – 2020 |
| Esteban Gutiérrez | 2016 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 2017 – current |
| Pietro Fittipaldi | 2019 – current |
| Nikita Mazepin | 2021 |
| Mick Schumacher | 2021 – 2022 |
| Nico Hülkenberg | 2023 – current |
The Haas Driver Development Program
The Haas driver development program has worked with the following drivers.
| Driver | Years | Series competed |
| Santino Ferrucci | 2016–2018 | GP3 Series (2016–2017) FIA Formula 2 Championship (2017–2018) |
| Arjun Maini | 2017–2018 | GP3 Series (2017) FIA Formula 2 Championship (2018) |
| Louis Delétraz | 2018–2020 | FIA Formula 2 Championship (2018–2020) GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (2020) |
| Pietro Fittipaldi | 2019–2023 | 2020 Formula One World Championship |
Haas F1 Team Sponsors
Payment company MoneyGram is Haas’s new title sponsor for 2023.
Other sponsors include
- Haas Automation
- HaasTooling.com
- Alpinestars
- Pirelli
- Schuberth
- Champagne Taittinger
- Tricorp Workwear
- Hantec Market
- OpenSea
- Palm Angels
- OAKBERRY
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
The Future Of The Haas F1 Team
The Haas F1 Team is currently in a period of transition. It has struggled with consistency, and has again changed the driver lineup for the 2023 season.
So far, they are up one place in the constructor championships. With all the teams constantly innovating new solutions, Haas will have difficulty keeping up.
