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Earlier this week, Mark Hughes wrote a column considering the implications of how Haas might replace Nikita Mazepin. Now that split is official, here’s an updated version of Mark’s article:
Now the Haas Formula 1 team has to find a replacement for Nikita Mazepin, its choice of driver could be quite illuminating.
For this is a team which, after a promising beginning, was effectively put into competitive cold storage for the last two seasons by its multi-billionaire owner Gene Haas and over which inevitable questions now hang.
For 2020 and ’21 the only reason for Haas to continue showing up was to retain its F1 entry. There was absolutely no competitive imperative to be there with a team that had been trimmed back to the bone.
There was no development budget, just the fulfilling of contractual obligations as the disillusioned owner decided he was unprepared to sink any more money than necessary until F1’s new regulations and cost cap were both in place.
Which is what led to those running the team on his behalf – mainly Guenther Steiner (whose idea this whole thing had been) – having to find external funding from entities which others had steered clear of, notably Rich Energy and Dmitry Mazepin. Each brought their own problems to the team.
Now that the new regulations and cost cap are in place and the two-year Mazepin deal has been nullified by external events, there is in theory nothing to stop Haas from resuming as the fresh and ambitious team which so impressed on its debut in 2016 and as recently as 2018 was a regular best of the rest contender behind the big three teams.
But is it still that team? There’s been a technical restructure in which it has benefitted from even closer links with Ferrari, as the Scuderia has looked for ways of getting staff off its books without losing them.
But what is driving the team? Is it still ambitious? Critically, does Gene Haas still have ambitions for it?
Or is it a now a business asset as a franchise of the highly profitable brand that is F1, with its expansion into new markets and its cost-controlled model?
Is just being in the game – and potentially making a good operating profit from an appreciating asset – good enough for the ace businessman Gene?
There is a sort of competitive equilibrium in matching up drivers to teams. A team of this stature is not going to attract an established superstar. But get a stellar young ace and it can light the whole operation up, taking it to heady heights and imbuing all involved with an excitement and a commitment to more.
Pushing for more is the competitive lifeblood of a team. In the pre-Liberty era if you didn’t have that you’d gradually fall down the grid and eventually into oblivion. It happened even to previously great teams like Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell.
But now? In the franchise age? For a sharp businessman? Maybe you can tread water indefinitely.
The team has Mick Schumacher in one car, a driver who did everything that could have been asked of him in his rookie season of last year but whose ultimate potential is still unclear. But, Ferrari-backed, if he’s good enough he will be fast-tracked up the grid.
In the other car, Haas needs a yardstick. Antonio Giovinazzi – now plenty experienced and capable of a useful turn of speed, but hardly a golden prospect – could provide the yardstick.
If it turns out Schumacher can outperform Giovinazzi, then Mick can become that thrusting force, dragging the team along in his slipstream. But if not, then it simply has two competent mid-grid drivers.
Oscar Piastri has looked every bit as convincing in his junior career as his precedents as Formula 2 champion George Russell and Charles Leclerc. There’s a buzz around him and his talent looks very special.
But he’s a Renault-contracted driver and probably the long-term replacement at Alpine for Fernando Alonso. There’s no way Renault is going to have him on anything but a very strong piece of elastic even if he was loaned out to Haas to get F1 experience under his belt.
But so what? If it can be possible, a truly ambitious team would be doing everything in its power to get such a talent even if just for one year.
Michael Andretti has tried to buy the team but Gene Haas has turned him down. Maybe it’s just a question of different valuations. But maybe it’s because Gene has found his mojo. Let’s see.
