American F1 Team...serious and not so serious thoughts.

[Moxie]

As the likelihood of an American F1 team increases, i think it is time to start collectively daydreaming about the form the team will take. I would love this discussion to include serious discussion, but leave a wide birth for humor and fanciful thinking.

On the fanciful side...

The livery will likely be dictated by sponsorship, but wouldn't it be nice if the livery reflected something from American racing history. ex.
White and Blue traditional Grand Prix colors
Dan Gurney colors...midnight blue with white meatball
Petty blue
(Livery artists... by all means post your lovely renderings of your ideas.

I'd also love to see a uniquely American brand sponsor the car...Wild Turkey, or Jack Daniels. (moonshine culture reference again...don't be offended)
An Oscar Meyer sponsorship might be fun...new meaning to the Wiener mobile

On the serious side...

Who the heck is going to engineer this thing? Are any designers ripe for the picking?
Is there a potential Alexander Rossi ride here?

Finally, the lack of a road racing organization for the Haas organization concerns me a bit. Haas will start with a data deficit as he enters F1. All of the engineering equipment and expertise is all well and good, but it appears that the has precious little road racing data, or protocol of any sort. Would it have been beneficial for him to have had some sort of international road racing organization already in place?

[Gridlock]

I think that owning the Windshear facility means they will have zero issues signing some nice low-cost Technical Partnerships

Plus I'd imagine Merc will be falling over themselves to be the engine supplier;

[Ferraripilot]

Dallara is the planned builder and Ferrari will most likely supply engines per previous interviews.

Haas needs to be prepared to put a half billion US into this project if they want to be competitive.

Let's see where this goes....

[Jersey Tom]

Who the heck is going to engineer this thing? Are any designers ripe for the picking?

There are plenty of experienced engineers in the US, many with F1 experience. Some more recent than others. There are also American engineers working currently in Europe in F1, who I'm sure would enjoy the opportunity to come back stateside.

Availability and interest are two other things.. availability in that many are probably locked up in contracts, the question of interest being skeptical after the USF1 thing. If you have a job with a good paycheck and some security - why quit and jump ship to a company that may fold before it gets off the ground? I'd think the more experienced someone is in their field or the more success they have (regardless of whether its in racing or not), the more skeptical they'd be. Though, those are the engineers you'd to hire the most!

So like I said in the other thread, I see 2015 as the year for them to try to grab up the best people they can. If they can outsource the 2015 car to Dallara - great! Prove they can get to the grid, collect some people, data, and sponsors in 2015, and go for a longer development cycle for the 2016 car.

[Tim.Wright]

Additionally I've seen that its quite easy to lure people out of europe without offering bucketloads of money. You give someone in England the change to do the same job in aus or the US and they will almost sign a contract without discussing salary...

[tok-tokkie]

Re job security issue. I recall an American engineer saying some years ago that his job security was knowing he could always get a job - because he was in demand. Haas is going to struggle to get top line people initially because they are already under contract. Once they are available he should be able to get good people who are secure in the knowledge that they will be snapped up by others if the Haas thing folds.

[Jersey Tom]

Re job security issue. I recall an American engineer saying some years ago that his job security was knowing he could always get a job - because he was in demand. Haas is going to struggle to get top line people initially because they are already under contract. Once they are available he should be able to get good people who are secure in the knowledge that they will be snapped up by others if the Haas thing folds.

There is some truth to that, yes. Good engineers can typically always find employment, but not all jobs are created equal and moving costs aren't trivial.

If you jump ship to do the Haas F1 thing, you do so knowing that (a) it might fold before it gets off the ground, (b) might be a pay cut to start off with, (c) you're giving up any seniority at your current employer, along with vacation time, etc, (d) even if you can find employment again if things go south, no guarantee it will be the same pay or quality of life as your current gig.

To me it just seems like a really big gamble until they show they're for real.

Of course if you don't like your job or part of the country (or world) where you're working, it's much less a big deal!