Haas F1 on Tuesday officially unveiled Frenchman Romain Grosjean as its lead driver for the 2016 F1 season. The 29-year-old, who currently drives for Lotus, will be behind the wheel when the U.S.-based team makes its F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on April 3. Sticking to its plan of hiring an experienced driver who is capable of developing the car, Haas F1 selected Grosjean, whose resume includes 10 podium finishes in 78 F1 starts. In addition to his driving abilities, Grosjean is also expected to open up marketing opportunities for Haas Automation in the U.S. and Europe, said Gene Haas, founder and chairman of Haas F1 Team. “He’s going to help a lot as far as promoting our machine tool brand in Europe,” he said. “He’s of French-Swiss nationality and those are both very important countries for our business, so we are looking forward to him representing our products over there.” Grosjean was one of several candidates, said Guenther Steiner, team principal of Haas F1. Steiner first approached Grosjean’s management regarding a possible move at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona earlier this year. Haas said team partner and engine supplier Ferrari had no saying in the driver decision. However, the Italian team may have still played a role. “I’m pretty sure Romain talked to Ferrari and that probably helped his decision,” Haas said. Grosjean confirmed that the team’s ties to Ferrari influenced his decision of joining Haas F1. “I like the idea of the partnership with Ferrari,” Grosjean said.
THE SECOND COCKPIT: Grosjean’s introduction also ended speculations of an American driver on the team, as its second primary driver will be one of Ferrari’s reserve drivers. Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez is touted as the most likely candidate for the open seat. Gutiérrez lost his drive at Sauber at the end of the ’14 season. The 24-year-old also makes a lot of commercial sense for Haas F1 as a North American driver could help attract sponsors in the market.
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| Gene Haas |
“We had a lot of pressure to hire an American driver, but the reality of it was that a rookie driver with a rookie team just isn’t a good fit,” Haas said. He added that the decision is “really up to Ferrari.” On the sponsorship front, Haas F1 CMO Adam Jacobs told SBD Global that the team expects to have some news following the U.S. Grand Prix, which takes place in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 25. The team also hopes to share a reserve driver with another team to save costs, according to Haas.
READY TO GO: The failure of previous F1 teams is no deterrent for Haas as he believes his team’s approach and strategy is different. He said the biggest difference is that those teams were under a real time constraint. “We’re taking quite a bit more time to get our car prepared,” he said. “We’re able to put together some very important relationships with Ferrari and Dallara. ... So I think we’re a little bit ahead of where those other teams were.” Haas also compared F1 to NASCAR, saying that F1 is a little more transparent and has more drama than the stock car series. “FIA is definitely a lot more democratic,” he said. “NASCAR is more like a dictatorship. ... They listen to your input but ultimately they make the decisions.”
