‘Time to sell Haas: Andretti F1 deal is obvious option now Steiner is gone’ – Motor Sport

So perhaps Komatsu can ‘do a Stella’ and turn things around to lift Haas from its unhappy current status. But he’ll know he has a hell of a job on his hands to get anywhere close to a McLaren-style revival. Haas is unique on the F1 grid in the way it operates and relies so heavily on Ferrari. That was Steiner’s doing of course, but recently and increasingly frustrations at the limitations the structure has imposed have bubbled over – to what was clearly an untenable point. In this case, is it really about the individuals involved or just an intrinsic compromise built within the team that’s never really going to work?

So, what are the real long-term intentions of Gene Haas when it comes to F1? The owner has consistently appeared as someone not fully engaged with the ‘vocation’ of running an F1 team – because for him it isn’t one. It was for Steiner. Therefore it’s easy to read into the management change that perhaps this is an early indicator towards much larger upheaval. Perhaps Haas is gearing up to sell his team. And perhaps that would be for the best.

It’s not working, is it? For some time it’s been too easy to perceive Haas as a team that just exists and little more. It survived the huge pressure wrought by the Covid pandemic, but since then… what has it contributed? Compared to some of the woeful backmarker teams of the past, it still operates at a high and respectable level. But everything is relative, F1 has never been so deeply competitive as it is now and while Haas is far closer to the front in lap time than most of its sorry predecessors, the reality is it’s still miles away from becoming a force to be reckoned with. That’s not going to change any time soon, no matter who is in charge. On that basis, it might well be for the best if Gene Haas calls it – especially as there is an American team owner waiting in the wings who is truly motivated to embrace F1.

Yes, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Haas should sell his team to Michael Andretti, who is champing at the bit to bring Cadillac into F1 if only he can land that prized entry. Such a deal would certainly solve a knotty problem. There’s clearly little appetite within the other teams and F1 itself to hand Andretti Global an 11th franchise to join the grid. As tensions simmer between the teams and promoter on one side and a muscle-flexing FIA president on the other, all the steam could be taken out of the situation by Andretti simply becoming one of the 10. That was Michael’s intention originally, when he tried and failed to buy Sauber. And taking on Haas and its hard-working staff would be far easier and more sensible than starting from scratch, even if the model it operates to needs a serious shake.

Earlier this week I tuned into Motor Sport’s new series of centenary podcasts, celebrating our 100th anniversary year. The first interview is with Mario Andretti – and it’s highly recommended listening. Anyone who has dared to question what that family name and attitude, in harness with one of America’s most iconic car brands, would add to F1 in terms of ‘value’ only needs to listen to Mario for an hour. I was dumbfounded that anyone had the cheek to question such a thing and it reflected poorly on those who did so. Whatever the financial complications of adding another team, it remains unfathomable to many of us that Andretti and Cadillac have not been at least encouraged, that solutions to the very real challenges its entry would throw up have not been a priority. Instead, the teams would prefer to squeeze the door shut and turn a blind eye – another example of why they should never be given too much power in how F1 is run.

The 11th team thing is a mess, then. Meanwhile, Steiner’s departure from Haas looks like a defining moment for an operation has never kicked on from its promising start. The inflated price of an F1 entry today – either legitimately or otherwise – wouldn’t make such a deal the work of a moment, of course. But Haas doesn’t look like a man who lives to race in F1 – because he isn’t. He’s a world away from a Frank Williams, or even a Peter Sauber.

The clock has always been ticking on his commitment anyway, so why go through the motions and prolong the stasis? It’s time. Hand the keys to Michael, Gene.