Haas F1 Team and Romain Grosjean Are a Good Fit for Each Other
After more than a year of speculation, the new Haas F1 Team announced their first driver on Tuesday during a press conference at the team's new facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Owner Gene Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner introduced current Lotus driver Romain Grosjean with approximately six months to go until the American team's debut at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
The announcement is good news for both parties. Haas achieved their stated goal of signing a driver with race experience in the current generation of hybrid F1 cars. Grosjean, meanwhile, has found a way out of the financial mess at Lotus.
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Lotus and Renault have shown amazing loyalty to Grosjean, giving him a second chance at F1 in 2012 and sticking by him even after a number of crashes, including one in Belgium that earned him a one-race suspension.
That loyalty paid off as Grosjean delivered 10 podiums for the team, including a stunning third this year at Spa—the site of his lowest moment just three years earlier.
But now is the right time for the Swiss-French driver to move on. The team is in turmoil, headed toward bankruptcy or a Renault buyout or who knows? Money problems caused them to be locked out of their hospitality at the Japanese Grand Prix, and they missed the start of free practice in Hungary when Pirelli refused to release their tyres.
Grosjean is 29 years old and only has so many years left in F1. Phoning in to the press conference, I asked him what made Haas the right team for him right now.
"I've spent 10 years in Enstone," he responded. "I know the guys very well, and it would have been easy to stay comfortable and stay there. But in the end I want to try to win races, win championships, and I felt coming here to Haas was a good step in a good direction to achieve that."
However, the move is not risk-free. There are plenty of examples in F1's recent past of experienced drivers joining new teams with high hopes, only to be disappointed: Jacques Villeneuve with BAR in 1999, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen with Lotus in 2010 (the Lotus team that became Caterham, not the one that is about to become Renault), and everyone associated with the Toyota disaster.
Gene Haas does not see his team suffering the same problems, though.
During the press conference, he said that while other new teams may have rushed to get on the grid, Haas are taking the time to get it right (they had an opportunity to race in 2015 but elected to wait an extra year).
In developing his team, Haas said: "Our direction was to do whatever it takes. We're not here to say, 'We as Americans can do it the American way'."
Citing one example, he said: "We had a lot of pressure to sign an American driver." But he did not think a rookie driver would be the best combination with a rookie team.
In fact, Haas' direction is different to anything currently seen in F1, because of their close partnership with Ferrari. Steiner recently told the official F1 website: "The crucial thing is that we work together with somebody and buy all the stuff that is allowed by the FIA regulations."
In addition to Ferrari engines, the Haas team will purchase parts such as gearboxes, breaks and fuel cells from the Italian manufacturer, per Autosport's Dieter Rencken and Lawrence Barretto. The American team are also using the Ferrari wind tunnel, and Steiner and Haas have been squatting in the Ferrari hospitality unit at races.
All that has led to speculation, via Fox Sports, that when Haas announces their second driver, it will be one currently affiliated with the Scuderia. Both Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne raced in 2014 and are currently cooling their race boots in Maranello, waiting for another opportunity.
Vergne is the more impressive of the pair, having battled closely with Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso in 2013 before the Aussie was chosen for Mark Webber's vacant race seat at Red Bull. Gutierrez, meanwhile, had just one top-10 finish in his two seasons at Sauber.
However, signing two French drivers might not be ideal for an American team. And if the team doesn't sign an American driver, a Mexican—Gutierrez—might be the next best thing. The 24-year old from Monterrey also brings substantial Mexican sponsorship.
As for Grosjean, Haas may not be his ultimate destination.
Ferrari picked up Kimi Raikkonen's option for next year, but if that is his last season with the team, a prime race seat will open up for 2017. With Haas and Ferrari's close ties, Grosjean might be able to jump the queue for a seat that has already been linked to Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
But that is all a long way off for now. Before there can be any talk of Ferrari, Grosjean must take a team that has never started a grand prix and make them competitive. Preferably immediately.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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