Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has said a new US-based team could join the motor-racing series for the 2015 or 2016 season.
Gene Haas, co-owner of Nascar team Stewart-Haas, said in January that he had entered an application to launch a new American F1 team through his Haas Racing Developments outfit. Haas said that Haas Racing Development “responded to the FIA’s (International Motorsport Federation) ‘call for expression of interest’ regarding a Formula One entry.”
The FIA, motorsport’s global governing body, in December launched a tender process seeking expressions of interest from would-be new teams for a potential slot on the Formula One grid from the 2015 or 2016 season. “I think Haas will be accepted,” Ecclestone said, according to UK newspaper the Independent. “They have got the money but it’s a question of whether they are going to spend it. A billion would last a new team owner four years. I’ve spoken to Haas but I don’t know what they are going to do. It’s America, so I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, is to meet with Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt during this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix to discuss potential changes with a view to improving to the sport, according to the Autosport.com website.
Di Montezemolo is said to be unimpressed with new fuel-efficiency regulations in the sport and reportedly met with Ecclestone in London yesterday (Wednesday) to begin discussions. Reports have suggested that the two are in agreement that the first two races of the new season have not produced the level of racing that could be achieved with the new 1.6-litre turbo engines. Both races have been won in dominant fashion by the early race leader with not as much overtaking and strategic variety that had been expected.
Last month, Di Montezemolo told Italian magazine Autosprint that he did not like the “taxi-cab” driving and was keen for change. “What I don't like is this complexity in the interpretation of the race, both from the drivers' and the spectators' point of view,” Di Montezemolo said.
source: sportbusiness
