Gene Haas: It will be a while before driver announcements

Gene Haas, owner of the North Carolina-based Haas F1 Team, has plenty of resumes from potential team drivers, from kart racers to veteran Formula One drivers.

But, he said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, don’t expect an announcement anytime soon.

In fact, “It will likely be about this time next year” before he makes any driver announcements.

And those hoping to hear the names of one or two American drivers when that selection is announced may be disappointed. Now, at least.

“I think fundamentally,” Haas said, “part of strategy is having an American team compete in European venues with an American driver, but the question is, when do we do it?”

For a fledgling, first-year Ferrari-linked team, it may make more sense to have drivers who are familiar with the tracks, the cars and the procedures. And since there are no active American F1 drivers – and the most recent one, Scott Speed, has been removed from an F1 cockpit since the summer of 2007 – it may not be possible.

Still, Haas said, “Our goal ultimately is to be a successful American racing team, with a successful American driver.”

'We look at every resume'

Both for drivers and crew, “We look at every resume that comes it. You wish you could give everybody who wants one a job, but so much of it depends on the window – when you need someone, and at what skill level. We have to match the right people with the right job.”

And while the F1 debut for Haas, who turns 62 next week, remains about 18 months away, already he has seen some benefit of his participation to his business, Haas Automation. “We’ve seen an increase in sales of $50 million since we committed to Formula One.”