Like a lot of Americans, I was very happy to learn that The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas was going to become part of the Formula 1 schedule. After two races, the track has earned a lot of praise from the F1 community and now the only thing left to do is get an American team back in the sport. Well, it looks like that may be finally happening.
The FIA has recently granted a Formula 1 license to Gene Haas, who has not only been partner in the Stewart-Haas championship-winning NASCAR team, but is also the founder of Haas Automation, a California company that builds parts for CNC machines. Better yet, he’s also developed a rolling wind tunnel capable of simulating speeds up to 180mph.
Those credentials are about as solid as it gets, and I’m certainly excited to see what becomes of this. Now that the license has been secured, the team could have two cars on the grid as soon as next season.
For a deeper report, the Sporting News has a great story on the process, with a lots of Haas’s own comments on the challenges of building an F1 team. Regardless of where you come from, I don’t think there’s anyone that can deny excitement that could come with an American team entering the sport. What say you?
Mike Garrett
Instagram: speedhunters_mike
mike@speedhunters.com
Photo by James Moy – You can see of more his amazing work right here.