British F1 legends have concerns about Haas Formula

By Apr 26, 2014, 1:00 PM EDT
11 Comments

British Formula 1 legends Johnny Herbert and John Watson have reservations about Gene Haas’ proposed entry into Formula 1, believing that running the team from the United States will be too great a challenge to be competitive.

NASCAR team owner Haas has been granted a berth on the grid for either 2015 or 2016 (depending on what is best for the team) and formally unveiled Haas Formula at a press conference earlier this month. Former Red Bull technical director Gunther Steiner is set to be team principal, whilst it is thought that there will be a sub-base in Italy that will work in tandem with the core operations in North Carolina.

However, Watson, who finished third in the 1982 world championship with McLaren, believes that the sheer geographical challenge could be too great for Haas.

“For me it’s the wrong move,” he said when asked about running the team from the United States on Sky Sports. “He’s going to be basing his car around the Dallara, I believe, made in Italy. So why base yourself in North America when everything has to be flown from Europe to North America to be assembled to be transported back for a European season?

“I would imagine you’re already starting on the back foot by basing your team in North Carolina.”

Watson believes that Haas would be better off buying one of the existing Formula 1 teams. Caterham, Marussia and Lotus are all rumored to be available to a buyer, and this would give Haas a pre-existing base and team to work with.

“[Buying a team] would be the obvious route to take,” Watson said. “There are a number of teams in the marketplace right now that could be available, but so far they’ve chosen this other direction. Maybe that might change before the end of the season.”

Herbert, who raced alongside Michael Schumacher at Benetton in the mid-90s, also has his doubts.

“I agree with John,” he said. “You’ve got to base it in Europe, you cannot go in American down in the south and then expect when there’s testing, for example, to ship the updates.

“The updates are a big part of what Formula 1 is about, and that’s something they’ve really got to think long and hard because I think it would be a miscalculation basing in America.”

Of course, the geographical challenge of running a team from the United States has not been lost on Haas, and the plans for an Italian operation will go a long way to easing this. With the right preparation and work from those at the team, it is certainly a challenge that can be overcome, despite what the naysayers may think.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
0 Comments

Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”