- The 6-year-old Haas F1 team is led by the American businessman Gene Haas and the Italian-born American and team boss Günther Steiner.
- However, the American team has yet to add an American driver to its full-time line-up.
- One of the biggest hurdles for Americans in Formula 1 is the super license system.
Six years after the Haas F1 Formula 1 team project, the American team still doesn’t look that American to the casual fan.
And while the Italian-born team boss Günther Steiner has American citizenship and team owner Gene Haas is American, the team still has to use an American driver in Formula 1. The team has an international line-up of drivers, including Romain Grosjean, Esteban Gutierrez, Kevin Magnussen, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Pietro Fittipaldi, a Miami-born racing driver who drives under the Brazilian flag, drove twice for Haas instead of the injured Grosjean last season.
It is not so easy to get this full-time driver on the grid with the American flag on his helmet in a Haas, said Steiner on Friday in Baku, Azerbaijan, the venue of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Günther Steiner (left) and Gene Haas walk through the F1 paddock in Portugal at the beginning of this season.
Peter FoxGetty Images
“Formula 1 would like an American driver and we would like an American driver, but for the moment,” said Steiner, pausing for a moment. “Of course we’re looking into it, but there’s one thing out there, and it’s a super license that not many (Americans) have right now. And then it has to be a talent.”
The super license is the sport’s “pass” to Formula 1. It is primarily based on a points system. Drivers earn super license points by completing seasons in other series. Score 40 points over a period of three years (the number has been reduced to 30 this year due to the pandemic) and you’ll take the first hurdle. For example, an IndyCar championship is worth 40 points, while second place in the IndyCar series is worth 30 points, the third is worth 20 points and points are awarded up to 10th place in the championship.
A Formula 2 championship is worth 40 points, while a Formula 3 title is worth 30 points. Dozens of series worldwide are part of the formula, including the W series for women (15 points for the winner) and even large kart series. The list of points earned is not published by the FIA or F1. As soon as a driver applies for the super license, an audit is carried out.
Among the Americans who qualify for the Super License, 2019 IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden leads the field. Colton Herta (pictured above), whose name comes up often in discussions of potential American F1 drivers, earned 20 points for third place in the IndyCar championship in 2020 and appears to be well on the way to that super license. Herta’s father Bryan tested a Formula 1 car for Minardi in 2002.
“I’ve never spoken to Colton, but we all know he doesn’t have a super license,” said Steiner.
Logan Sargeant, a 20-year-old driver from Florida, finished third in Formula 3 last year (20 points). Sargeant didn’t have the sponsorship to advance to the F2 this season, and he recently signed a deal to return to the F3 for 2021.
Alexander Rossi, who currently drives for Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series, is the last American to drive in F1. That was in 2015.
“American drivers all get a good job in America,” said Steiner. “We’re always on the lookout, of course, and I talk to (F1 CEO) Stefano (Domenicali) about what could and can’t be done and we try to make a plan for the future.”
Before starting this year with rookies Schumacher and Mazepin, Steiner and Haas committed themselves to F1 veterans under the premise that results count. The results are not available, however, as Haas is at the bottom of the F1 standings for the second year in a row and has not even reached a single podium in the team’s history.
Could an American driver do worse? Or, above all, better?
“It will come,” said Steiner. “We just have to be patient at some point. There are a couple of guys in Formula 3 who look promising and let’s see what we can do.”
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