Haas Formula

Haas Formula LLC, competing as MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, is an American-licensed Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team made its debut in the season. The team principal is Ayao Komatsu, who replaced Guenther Steiner who served in the role from the team's inception until January 2024.

The team is headquartered in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States – from Charlotte – alongside sister team and NASCAR entrant Haas Factory Team, though the two teams are separate entities. The team also established a forward base in Banbury, England, to turn cars around between races during the European part of the calendar. The team maintains a design office in Maranello, which is also home to Scuderia Ferrari's headquarters.

History

Preparations

Haas was the first American constructor to submit an F1 entry after the failed US F1 project in , and is the first American constructor to compete since the unrelated Haas Lola outfit raced in the and seasons. The Haas Lola team was owned by former McLaren boss Teddy Mayer and Carl Haas, who was not related to Gene Haas.

Following the collapse of Marussia F1 during the season and the auctioning of their assets, Haas purchased the team's Banbury headquarters to serve as a forward base for their operations.

Unrestricted by testing regulations until the time they actually entered Formula One, Haas shook its new car down in December 2015 ahead of official pre-season testing at Barcelona in early 2016. Haas approached Italian manufacturer Dallara to build their chassis, with a power unit supplied by Ferrari. Former Jaguar and Red Bull Racing technical director Guenther Steiner was the team principal for 10 years until 2024. Haas confirmed its new car had passed the mandatory FIA crash tests in January 2016.

Relationship with other teams

Ferrari

Haas's approach of establishing a far-reaching partnership with Ferrari was met with a mixed response from the paddock. The constructor was applauded for pioneering a low-cost model that would allow new teams to enter the sport and be competitive, which had been of concern to the sport for some years. Conversely, Haas's approach was criticized by smaller, privateer teams who had invested in their own infrastructure and expressed concerns about the close relationship between manufacturers and satellite constructors handing more political power to the sport's larger constructors.

In 2018, Haas once again came under fire after arriving at winter testing with a car that strongly resembled the Ferrari SF70H, Ferrari's 2017 car. Competitors McLaren and Force India both criticized the partnership between Ferrari and Haas. While no official grievances were filed at the time, McLaren CEO Zak Brown questioned the relationship.

During rule discussions for the season in April 2019, concerns over Haas F1's B-team approach were presented by Renault and McLaren. Ross Brawn, F1's managing director of motorsport at the time, stated that Haas' business model was "...something we have to maintain for the future, for a small team to come in and be pretty respectable."

Haas have also depended on Ferrari for their reserve drivers. They have completed numerous practice sessions with Ferrari reserve drivers and Ferrari Driver Academy members such as Charles Leclerc, Antonio Giovinazzi, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman. Former Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman, who joined the team in 2025, also participated in an FP1 session for Haas and substituted for Kevin Magnussen following his race ban at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and at the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix after Magnussen withdrew due to illness. Additionally, during his tenure at the team, Mick Schumacher was still a Ferrari Driver Academy member and Ferrari reserve driver.

Toyota

In October 2024, Haas announced a technical partnership with Toyota in Formula One, Toyota, although engines would continue to be provided by Ferrari. This would see the team integrate the services of Toyota Gazoo Racing, with the Toyota name associated with the sport for the first time in 15 years, ever since they withdrew at the end of 2009 season. In April 2025, as part of their technical partnership, Haas signed Toyota driver Ryō Hirakawa as their test driver for the 2025 season.

2016 season

Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez drove for the team in 2016. In the team's debut at the opening , Grosjean finished 6th, scoring eight points for the team. This made Haas the first American List of Formula One constructors, constructor to win points in its first F1 race. At the same race, Gutiérrez crashed out during an incident which destroyed former world champion Fernando Alonso's McLaren and caused the race to be temporarily red-flagged. Another impressive race followed in 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain, where Grosjean finished 5th. However, for the rest of the season, the team fell off the pace, only scoring points on three more occasions. Grosjean picked up all 29 points en route to 8th in the Constructors' Championship.

2017 season

Kevin Magnussen drove alongside Grosjean in 2017, replacing Gutiérrez. In the first race of the season, the team scored its best-ever qualifying effort, with Grosjean piloting the Haas VF-17, VF-17 to 6th place. However, in the race, both cars were forced to retire with mechanical failures. The second race weekend proved better for the team with Magnussen finishing 8th, scoring his first points since his 10th-place finish at the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, and Haas's first points since the 2016 United States Grand Prix, where Grosjean finished 10th.

The team's success would continue in 2017 as Haas would go on to have their first double points finish in 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, Monaco, with Grosjean and Magnussen finishing 8th and 10th respectively. The team finished 8th in the constructors' title for the second consecutive year after being surpassed by Renault during the final races.

2018 season

In February 2018, Haas unveiled their new car, the Haas VF-18, VF-18, although not without controversy. Some competitors called for an investigation due to its resemblance to the previous year's Ferrari, the Ferrari SF70H, SF70H.

Following a strong showing during winter testing, Haas had a competitive weekend in 2018 Australian Grand Prix, Australia with Magnussen starting 5th and Grosjean 6th. During the race, the two drivers were running in 4th and 5th, which would have given them the team's best result since its inception and half of their 2017 points tally, but both cars retired one lap after their respective pit stops. Gunther Steiner later stated in an interview that the pit-stop crew had cross-threaded the wheel nuts on both cars. The team would eventually match this 4th and 5th-place result in 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, Austria, surpassing their 2017 points total after only nine races. At the , Magnussen scored Haas' first-ever fastest lap. 2018 was their best season to date, finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship, one point short of doubling their previous year's performance.

2019 season

The team retained their 2018 driver line up for the third consecutive year, consisting of Grosjean and Magnussen. The team also took on Rich Energy as a title sponsor for 2019 as part of the activation of a multi-year title sponsorship deal with Rich Energy, a British energy drink company that was previously linked to an attempted to purchase Force India.

The Haas VF-19, VF-19 often showed impressive pace during qualifying but struggled during the race. At the opening race in 2019 Australian Grand Prix, Australia, Magnussen finished 6th in what would eventually be the team's best season result. The team's qualifying pace was evident in 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, Austria, where Magnussen recorded the 5th-fastest time but finished the race in 19th with Grosjean 16th. In July, just four days before the , the Rich Energy Twitter account announced that the sponsorship deal with Haas had been terminated, citing "poor performance". This was later denied by both the team and Rich Energy's shareholders, who asserted that the tweet was the result of a "rogue" individual. For the British Grand Prix, the team elected to reverse the upgrades placed on Grosjean's car, using the same specification run in Australia, to determine the causes of the car's poor race pace. However, both drivers collided with each other on the first lap, causing a double retirement. The provided the team's best-combined result of the season, being classified 7th and 8th after post-race penalties for other drivers.

Title sponsor Rich Energy faced numerous legal issues during the year, including being found to have plagiarized the logo of bicycle manufacturer Whyte Bikes. In September, a day after the , Rich Energy announced the termination of the deal with Haas with immediate effect. The team earned no points for the race at Monza Circuit, Monza, with Grosjean finishing only 16th and Magnussen retiring.

Haas finished the season in 9th place in the Constructor's Championship with 28 points.

2020 season

Haas once again kept an unchanged lineup of Grosjean and Magnussen for the 2020 season.

On the opening lap of the , Grosjean collided with Scuderia AlphaTauri, AlphaTauri driver Daniil Kvyat and crashed through the barriers between turns 3 and 4. The impact resulted in the car splitting in two and bursting into flames. Grosjean escaped significant injury, suffering burns on his hands, and was hospitalized after the race. He remarked that the Halo (safety device), halo head protection device likely saved his life. The crash ruled him out for the rest of the season, with reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi driving in his place at 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Sakhir and 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi.

During the season, Haas scored 3 points, with Magnussen finishing 9th in 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungary but receiving a time penalty that would drop him to 10th, and Grosjean finishing 9th in the . The team would not score again, finishing 9th in the Constructor's Championship.

2021 season

Grosjean and Magnussen left Haas at the end of the 2020 Championship. They were replaced by Russian Nikita Mazepin, and 2020 Formula 2 Championship winner Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. To survive financially, the team opted to halt the development of the 2021 car, instead focusing resources on the 2022 car. They also secured Uralkali, a Russian potash fertilizer producer, of which Mazepin's father Dmitry Mazepin, Dmitry is a key shareholder, as the title sponsor for the team. Uralkali's sponsorship resulted in a livery containing the colors of the Flag of Russia, Russian flag. Steiner denied this was to circumvent a World Anti-Doping Agency ban on the use of the Russian flag and anthem following a Doping in Russia, state-sponsored doping scandal in the country.

During the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix, first race, Mazepin spun out on the first lap, while Schumacher finished 16th in his debut, the last of all running cars. In the season's final race, Mazepin tested positive for Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, coronavirus and was ruled out of the race. Haas would only field one driver, rather than replace Mazepin with reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, as he had not fulfilled the requirement of having competed in a practice session for the team. Haas finished 10th in the Constructor's Championship scoring 0 points over the season, the team's worst finish since their founding in 2016 and their lowest ever points total.

2022 season

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Haas removed the branding of Russian sponsor Uralkali from its cars and the colors of the Russian flag. On March 5, the team announced it had terminated its title sponsorship deal with Uralkali and its driver contract with Mazepin. Kevin Magnussen, who previously drove for the team from 2017 to 2020, was announced as his replacement.

Haas's decision to focus on building the VF-22 throughout the 2021 season resulted in the car proving to be competitive among the mid-field teams. With Magnussen returning, Haas scored in the first two races of the season, with Magnussen finishing in 5th and 9th-place at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain and . Schumacher failed to score points in Bahrain and did not start in Saudi Arabia due to a crash in qualifying. The following races saw both Magnussen and Schumacher fail to score points and even finish the race as despite their high starting position after qualifying.

After a points drought, Haas took a double points finish at the 2022 British Grand Prix with Magnussen finishing 10th and Schumacher 8th; his first-ever point finish as a Formula One driver and the first double-point finish for Haas after three years. The momentum was maintained by Magnussen finishing 8th and Schumacher finishing 6th in the following race in . The team also took their maiden pole position at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix, with Magnussen out-qualifying the field in changing conditions to start on pole. Magnussen later retired after a collision with McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo at the start of the race.

The team's two back-to-back double points finishes placed Haas eighth in the Constructors' Championship. Mick Schumacher departed from Haas at the end of the season.

2023 season

Haas signed a title sponsorship deal with MoneyGram for the 2023 season onwards.

Nico Hülkenberg's Formula One return was announced prior to the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, partnering Magnussen for the 2023 season. Early 2023, Haas also announced that Pietro Fittipaldi remained as the team's official test and reserve driver for 2023 for a fifth consecutive season, participating in the development of the VF-23.
At the , Hülkenberg achieved what would've been the team's best qualifying position of the season when he set the second fastest time during a wet qualifying session. After McLaren's Oscar Piastri crashed earlier in the session, bringing out the red flag, the rest of the grid were not able to improve on their qualifying times as the rain got heavier. However, Hülkenberg was handed a three-place grid penalty for a red flag infraction and would start the race in fifth position. Magnussen would start the race in 14th position.

Haas finished the season 10th in the Constructor's Championship with 12 points. While the team scored numerous top 10 qualifying positions, the Haas VF-23, VF-23's high tyre wear meant its drivers would slip down the order during races. The most notable example of this was Nico Hülkenberg's performance at the Canadian Grand Prix. Due to the VF-23's aggressive tyre wear, Hülkenberg had slipped down to 15th place by the chequered flag. Haas scored points just 5 times during the season with Hülkenberg's 7th-place finish at the being the team's best finish of the season.

2024 season

In August 2023, Haas announced that its 2023 driver line-up of Hülkenberg and Magnussen would be retained for the 2024 season. Team principal Guenther Steiner's contract was not renewed, with the position being filled by engineer Ayao Komatsu on January 10. Technical director Simone Resta also departed.

In August 2024, it was reported, by a Swiss arbitrator, that Haas has to reimburse US$9 million to former title sponsor Uralkali for the cancelled sponsorship contract two months prior. This resulted in Dutch bailiffs and police entering the Haas paddock during the weekend to valuate their assets for Uralkali to potentially seize, should the company did not receive payment by August 26. On August 23, Gene Haas confirmed that the team has made the payment but it was complicated by the Russian sanctions. On August 26, Uralkali confirmed the receipt of the payment and Haas was allowed to leave for the .

Magnussen received two penalty points for causing a collision at the Italian Grand Prix, taking his total to twelve points in twelve months and triggering a one race ban. Reserve driver Oliver Bearman replaced him for the .

On October 11, Haas and Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) signed a technical partnership, where TGR would provide design, technical and manufacturing services in exchange for Haas' technical expertise and commercial benefits.

Haas finished the season in seventh place, after double-podium for Alpine F1 Team, Alpine dropped them down from sixth. The team scored 58 points, the most they had scored since 2018.

2025 season

Hülkenberg and Magnussen departed the team after the 2024 season; the former re-joined Sauber Motorsport, Kick Sauber and was replaced by FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula 2 graduate and former reserve driver Oliver Bearman, The first time that Haas has taken on a rookie driver since the pairing of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher in 2021. The latter was replaced by Esteban Ocon, who departed Alpine F1 Team, Alpine after five seasons with Team Enstone.

The season's opening race in 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne was an unwelcome surprise for Haas. In qualifying, Ocon was last of the classified drivers in P19 with teammate Bearman not being classified due to gearbox issues. In the race, despite rain and chaotic conditions, both drivers were again at the back of the pack finishing P13 and P14 as the last of the classified drivers.

At the second race in 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, China, both drivers were able to score points with Ocon and Bearman crossing the line in P7 and P10 respectively. This marked the first points of the season for the team, the first points for Ocon with Haas and with a Ferrari power unit, and the first double points finish for Haas since Mexico. After the race, Scuderia Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, as well as Alpine's Pierre Gasly were disqualified. This promoted Ocon and Bearman to P5 and P8 respectively.

Complete Formula One results

;Notes:
* * – Season still in progress.
* ^† – The driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified, as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Esports

Complete F1 Esports Series results

Driver development program

Since the team's foundation, multiple drivers have been affiliated with Haas. These include:

Notes

References

External links

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2014 establishments in North Carolina
American auto racing teams
Companies based in North Carolina
American companies established in 2014
Formula One entrants
Auto racing teams established in 2014
Haas F1 Team,