Ford Performance Haas F1 Team

**Haas Formula LLC**, competing as **Ford Performance Haas F1 Team**, is an American Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team co-owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team originally intended to make its debut at the start of the 2015 season, but later elected to postpone their entry until the 2016 season. The team principal for the Haas F1 team is Tony Stewart.

The team is headquartered in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States – 31 mi (50 km) from Charlotte – alongside sister team and NASCAR entrant Stewart-Haas Racing, though the two teams are separate entities. The team also established a forward base in Northampton, England, for the purpose of turning cars around between races during the European part of the calendar. Their current drivers are Andrew Glock and Mick Schumacher.

## Guenther Steiner Era (2014-2021):

### Preparations

Haas was the first American constructor to submit an F1 entry after the failed US F1 project in 2010, and it is the first American constructor to compete since the unrelated Haas Lola outfit raced in the 1985 and 1986 seasons. The Haas Lola team was owned by former McLaren boss Teddy Mayer and Carl Haas, who is not related to Gene Haas.

Following the collapse of Marussia F1 during the 2014 season and the auctioning of their assets, Haas purchased the team's Banbury headquarters to serve as a forward base for their operations.

Unrestricted by testing regulations until the time the team actually entered Formula One, Haas shook its new car down in December 2015 ahead of official pre-season testing at Barcelona in early 2016. Haas approached Italian manufacturer Dallara to build their chassis, with a power unit supplied by Ferrari. Former Jaguar and Red Bull Racing technical director Guenther Steiner was the team principal at the time. Haas confirmed its new car had passed the mandatory FIA crash tests in January 2016.

### Relationship with Ferrari

Haas's approach of establishing a far-reaching partnership with Ferrari was met with a mixed response from the paddock. The constructor was applauded for pioneering a low-cost model that would allow new teams to enter the sport and be competitive, which had been of concern to the sport for some years. Conversely, Haas's approach was criticized by smaller, privateer teams who had invested in their own infrastructure and expressed concerns about the close relationship between manufacturers and satellite constructors handing more political power to the sport's larger constructors.

In 2018 the constructor again came under fire from competitors after arriving at winter testing with a car that strongly resembled the Ferrari SF70H, Ferrari's 2017 car. Competitors McLaren and Force India both criticized the partnership between Ferrari and Haas. While no official grievance has been filled with the FIA, McLaren boss Zak Brown has questioned the relationship.

During 2021 rule discussions in April 2019, concerns over Haas F1's B-team approach were presented by Renault and McLaren. Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn said that he wants to protect and enhance the model for the foreseeable future as it allows teams with smaller budgets to enter the sport.

### 2016 season

Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez drove for the team in 2016. In the team's debut at the opening Australian Grand Prix, Grosjean finished 6th, scoring eight points for the team, which became the first American constructor to win points in its first F1 race and the first constructor overall since Toyota Racing in 2002 to record points in its debut. At the same race his teammate, Esteban Gutiérrez crashed out in an incident which destroyed former world champion Fernando Alonso's McLaren and caused the race to be temporarily red-flagged. Another impressive race followed in Bahrain, where Grosjean finished 5th. Although the rest of the season the team fell off the pace, only scoring points on three more occasions. It was Grosjean who picked up all 29 points en route to 8th in the Constructors' Championship.

### 2017 season

On November 11, 2016, the team announced that Kevin Magnussen would drive alongside Grosjean in 2017, replacing Gutiérrez.

Kevin Magnussen replaced Gutiérrez for the 2017 season. In the first race of the season, the team scored its best-ever qualifying effort with Grosjean piloting the VF-17 to 6th place. However, in the race, one of the issues that was hampering the performance of Kevin Magnussen throughout the weekend struck again, forcing both cars to retire from the race. The second race weekend proved better for the team as Kevin Magnussen finished 8th, scoring his first points since his 10th-place finish in the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, and Haas's first points since the 2016 United States Grand Prix, where Grosjean finished 10th.

The team's success would continue in 2017 as Haas would also go on to get their first double points finish in Monaco where Grosjean finished eighth and Magnussen tenth. The team finished 8th place in the constructors' title for the 2nd straight year after being surpassed by the Renault Sport Formula One Team in the final races.

### 2018 season

In February 2018, Haas unveiled their new car, the VF-18, although some competitors called for an investigation due to its resemblance to the previous year's Ferrari, the SF70H. Following a strong showing during winter testing, Haas again showed up in Australia with a competitive car; scoring the team's best-ever starting grid positions with Magnussen starting 5th and Grosjean 6th, respectively. During the Grand Prix, they were running in 4th and 5th positions which would have given them their best ever result and half of their 2017 points tally, but both cars retired one lap after their respective pit stops. They would eventually match this 4th and 5th-place result in Austria, where they also surpassed their 2017 points total after only nine races. At the Singapore Grand Prix, Magnussen scored Haas' first-ever fastest lap. 2018 was their second best season to date, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship, one point short of doubling their previous year's performance.

### 2019 season

The team took on Rich Energy as a title sponsor for 2019. This was part of the activation of a multi-year title sponsorship deal with Rich Energy, a British energy drink company which was previously linked to purchasing Force India. The team also retained their 2018 driver line up for 2019 consisting of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen for the third consecutive year. Haas' challenger for the 2019 season was the VF-19.

The VF-19 often showed impressive pace during qualifying but struggled during the race. At the opening race in Australia, Magnussen finished 6th in what would eventually turn out to be the team's best result of the season. The team's qualifying pace was evident in Austria, where Magnussen recorded the 5th-fastest time, but went on to finish the race in 19th with Grosjean 16th. Four days before the British Grand Prix, in July, the Rich Energy Twitter account announced that the sponsorship deal had been terminated, citing poor performance. This was later denied by both the team and Rich Energy's shareholders and it transpired that the tweet was the result of a "rogue" individual. For the British Grand Prix the team elected to reverse the upgrades placed on Grosjean's car, using the same specification run in Australia, in order to determine the causes of the car's poor race pace. However, both drivers collided into each other on the first lap, causing a double retirement for the team. The German Grand Prix provided the team's best-combined result of the season, being classified 7th and 8th after post-race penalties for other drivers.

Title sponsor Rich Energy faced numerous legal issues during the year, including being found to have plagiarized the logo of bicycle manufacturer Whyte Bikes. In September, a day after the Italian Grand Prix, Rich Energy announced the termination of the deal with Haas F1 team with immediate effect. The Haas statement read, "While enjoying substantial brand recognition through its title partnership of Haas F1 Team in 2019, a corporate restructuring process at Rich Energy will see the need for a revised global strategy. Subsequently, Haas F1 Team and Rich Energy concluded a termination of the existing partnership was the best way forward for both parties. Haas F1 Team would like to express its thanks and best wishes to the stakeholders at Rich Energy." The team had finished the Italian Grand Prix at Monza with no points with Romain Grosjean finishing only 16th and Kevin Magnussen retiring.

Haas finished the season in 9th place in the constructors' championship with 28 points, the team's worst finish since their founding in 2016.

### 2020 season

In the 2020 Formula One World Championship, Haas scored 3 points, with Magnussen finishing 9th in Hungary, but receiving a time penalty that would drop him to 10th, and Grosjean finishing 9th in the Eifel Grand Prix. They would not score again. The team finished 9th in the Constructor's Championship, scoring the fewest points in team history.

On the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Grosjean collided with AlphaTauri driver Daniil Kvyat and crashed through the barriers between turns 3 and 4. The impact resulted in the car splitting in two, and bursting into flames. Grosjean escaped major injury, suffering burns on his hands and was hospitalised after the race. He remarked that the halo head protection device likely saved his life. The crash ruled him out of the following week's Sakhir Grand Prix, and he was replaced by Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi.

## Tony Stewart Era (2021-)

### 2021 season

Both Magnussen and Grosjean left Haas at the end of the 2020 Championship. They were replaced by Russian Nikita Mazepin, and 2020 Formula 2 Championship winner Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. Uralkali joined Haas as the title sponsor for the team. In addition, Guenther Steiner announced his retirement from the team, citing too much stress. In his place came none other than Stewart-Haas Racing Team Principal, Tony Stewart.

Under Stewart, the team experienced an odd transformation. UralKali was removed from the team's sponsor list, and replaced with Sunoco Race Fuels as the title sponsor. They also had an almost immediate turnaround in results, as by the Turkish Grand Prix, Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher both finished 8th and 10th respectively. From Monaco to the Italian Grand Prix, Stewart helped the team achieve their best results, including a Mick Schumacher 2nd place podium at the British Grand Prix. This was followed by an overall masterclass at the German Grand Prix, where Mick Schumacher made the podium, yet again in 2nd place, and Pascal Wehrlein earned a respectable 5th place on his Haas debut.

Haas also openly announced at the Turkish Grand Prix that they were no longer developing the car after the summer break, and the team's results suffered from then on. Outside of a shock Nikita Mazepin 3rd place podium at Spa-Francorchamps, and Josef Newgarden's P5 debut at Circuit Of The Americas, Haas were devoid of any standout results. Despite their highest-ever points tally of 120, they were still 9th place in the Constructor's championship, 3 points short of 8th-placed Williams and 5 points short of 7th-placed AlphaTauri. At the final press conference, Gene Haas broke down in tears, feeling that he had failed his team and the United States of America, their primary fanbase. However, Ronnie Williams especially commended his efforts, stating, "Haas was never expected to score any points at all, much less 120 of them. Gene has a lot to be proud of this year."

### 2022 Season

After a year of co-development with Ford on the new regulations, Haas announced that they would end their partnership with Ferrari. This left Mick Schumacher stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he ultimately signed a 5 year contract with Ford Performance Haas, saying "unlike Ferrari, Ford sees value not just in my name, but my capabilities and personality as well." Richard Mille was dropped as the team's watch sponsor, being replaced with American upstart watch makers MVMT. Due to Ford Performance taking a 40% stake in the team, Sunoco Race Fuels lost their title sponsor role, but still maintained their 10% stake in the team, and are the team's official fuel sponsor in all events, replacing Castrol. Under Armour is the team's official clothing sponsor, making the official race suits and Ford Performance themed athletic wear. 1&1 continued with the team, sponsoring Mick Schumacher. Dorilton Capital, a personal sponsor of Andrew Glock, signed a 3 year deal with the team.

The season started weakly, as Mick Schumacher ran out of fuel (DNF) and Andrew Glock finished in 13th place. However, an upturn in Singapore saw Schumacher lead Glock to the finish line in 3rd and 4th places respectively. Unfortunately, at the time this would turn out to be a one-off result, as Ford remained a lower-midfield team until Monaco. Monaco would prove to be a turning point for the team, as Schumacher finished 3rd and Glock 5th after qualifying 2nd and 3rd respectively. Their streak of good results was interrupted in Austria, but in Italy, Glock led Schumacher to Ford's first win since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2004, and their first 1-2. In Germany, Schumacher and Glock would start from the very back, but carved through the grid to eventually finish 6th and 8th respectively.