FIA decision on Haas, new F1 teams delayed

NASCAR team co-owner Gene Haas will have to wait a little longer to find out if his application to own a team in Formula One has been accepted. Autoweek’s Adam Cooper is reporting that the decision, which was due to be made today, has now been delayed.

According to Cooper, the FIA has notified the candidates but apparently did not give a reason for the delay or a new deadline.

Haas, who co-owns Sprint Cup squad Stewart-Haas Racing, is one of two candidates for an F1 license. The other is a group from Romania led by former Hispania Racing Team (HRT) principal and managing director Colin Kolles.

Sanctioning body officials could issue licenses to both, only to one or none at all. And while the decision was expected to be made today, there was a possibility that F1 could delay the actual announcement of the license approval or denial.

Kolles could have one key advantage over Haas, namely experience. Prior to joining HRT, Kolles was previously team principal and managing director for a previous F1 team that campaigned under the names of Jordan, Midland, Spyker and Force India from 2005 through 2008.

Haas, a wealthy manufacturer of industrial machinery and components, has no prior experience in F1 other than being a long-time fan of the sport and series.

If approved, Haas would likely align himself with Ferrari but would own and operate his team from an operations base here in the U.S., most likely adjacent to SHR’s NASCAR headquarters in suburban Charlotte.

According to reports, Haas would likely purchase motors and chassis from Maranello.

Kolles’ group, which reportedly has heavy financial backing from Romanian government officials, would likely align itself with Lotus and operate from the now-defunct HRT F1 operations base near Munich.

Both Haas and Kolles paid a $130,000 fee as part of the application process. Both men were interviewed by a panel of FIA officials earlier this week as a final prelude to the eventual determination of whether a license will be granted to one or the other, or both or none.