Gene Haas admitted that "he would have been better off buying an existing Formula 1 team rather than establishing his squad as a completely new entry," according to RACER.
This year Haas F1 "joined forces with Ferrari to become the first new arrival on the grand prix grid since the debuts of the teams then known as Lotus, Virgin and Hispania at the start of 2010." Though it bought the former Marussia factory in Banbury as a European base, "it chose not to acquire the team's entry." Haas admitted that F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "had strongly advised him to acquire one of the teams already in the field rather than starting from scratch." Haas said, "Bernie was always saying, 'Why don't you just buy an existing team?' which was actually a better idea because there were only 10 teams at the time so economically it would've been a lot more beneficial." Haas conceded that "the financial bonuses on offer to teams ranked in the top 10 in recent constructors' championships would have been helpful had he taken Ecclestone's advice." He said, "Not only do you get 'column A' money but you also get freight and airline tickets for the team. There is a lot of financial help for the teams once they've been established" (RACER, 8/15).
