Haas F1 Team

Interesting facts

Behind Haas F1 Team stands American NASCAR team owner Gene Haas, who founded Haas Formula LLC in April 2014, making the outfit the first American F1 constructor since the short-lived Haas Lola experiment of 1985-86. The project was led by Guenther Steiner, who drafted the business plan amid the late-2000s recession and won backers such as Niki Lauda and Jean Todt to help secure FIA approval for the newcomer. Haas was deliberately built as a 'customer team' from the outset: Italian manufacturer Dallara builds the chassis while Ferrari supplies the engine, letting the outfit concentrate its resources on racing rather than manufacturing. Debuting at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, Haas made history immediately: Romain Grosjean's eight points made it the first American constructor to score on its debut. One of the team's darkest moments came at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Grosjean's car split in two and burst into flames after hitting the barrier - he credited the halo device with saving his life. In 2022, at a wet qualifying session in Sao Paulo, Kevin Magnussen claimed the team's first-ever pole position, one of the most surprising moments in the developing team's history. After a decade in charge, Guenther Steiner left the team principal role in January 2024, with Ayao Komatsu taking over. Haas F1 Team has been competing in Formula 1 since 2016 as an American team. The team scored a total of 407 constructors' championship points. The team's best season was 2018, when it finished 6th in the Constructors' Championship with 93 points.