Steiner reveals Haas business model inspired by Domenicali

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has revealed that the US outfit's specific business model in F1 was initially inspired by current F1 chief executive and former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Gene Haas entered Grand Prix racing with his eponymous team in 2016, an entry that came on the back of the demise of the Caterham and HRT entries and the exit of several manufacturers.

But Haas' structure was not only adequately financed at the time, although at the low end of the average F1 budget, it also relied on a close technical partnership with Ferrari and Dallara.

While the Scuderia supplied to Haas its engine and as many components as legally permitted, the team's chassis was manufactured by Dallara.

In an interview with Motorsport.com, Steiner explained how the three parties came together and Domenicali's role in outlining the project.

"The idea came about in a very strange way," he said. “At the time, F1 had lost manufacturers like BMW, Toyota and Honda, while among those who wanted to join was USF1, which was based 15km from my home.

“I was introduced to the boss, Ken Anderson, because he needed my company to do some work for him. Bernie Ecclestone was calling me regularly, asking what was going on because the whole thing wasn't clear.

"Then one day I got a call from [Youtube founder] Chad Hurley, the main investor [in USF1] , who asked me what to do to get into F1, as I knew that world.

"The only solution [I felt] was to buy the cars that Dallara was building for Campos, but clearly there wasn't enough time to enter the championship. After a couple of days, he told me to get in touch with Mr Dallara to discuss the matter.

Cue Stefano Domenicali with whom Steiner enjoyed a casual meeting as he investigated USF1 project.

"One afternoon I had some free time, so I went to see Stefano Domenicali, to ask him what the F1 environment was like in those years and to understand more about it," he continued.

"Stefano advised me against going ahead with Hurley because he understood that it wasn't a project with a solid foundation. But the idea of making an F1 team was already in my head, so I thought about it for a while.

"In those months there was talk of a third F1 team for potential customer teams, so after a while I called Domenicali back to propose a project structured in such a way as to have this car.

"He said: 'Find someone willing to invest seriously in racing and then we'll see.’

"So I started to contact people in the racing world, until I found someone who knew Gene Haas, who was involved in NASCAR at the time.

• Read also: Steiner says 2021 will be 'another difficult one' for Haas

"We met and started talking about it, first distantly and then in detail. The negotiations lasted a year and eventually Gene was convinced to join, so he asked me to get him an entry.

"It's always difficult at the beginning, but once you find someone to finance the project, then it's just a matter of working on it to make it happen, doing it well and using the knowledge you have."

Perhaps the most interesting detail in Steiner's story is the fact that it was the Italian that attracted Gene Haas to F1, when it was assumed that the American business man was the one who had recruited Steiner after initiating his F1 ambitions.

Haas is on the eve of its sixth season in F1, and the US team - which will field young guns Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin this year - has retained its business model and sealed an even closer collaboration with Ferrari.

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