As widely expected, Gene Haas has announced that he will defer entering F1 until the 2016 season.

"It's already June so it's just seven months away and the timing issues are starting to get real crazy," he told Autoweek.

Among the many problems he faces is an engine supply, a chassis supply and team personnel.

"We have a list of names," he admitted, "but the problem is a lot of times they're already working for somebody and they can't get out of their contracts for three to six months so there's a lot of those contractual issues that have to be resolved before someone can come over."

While sceptics might sniff the air and hint at the smell of burnt toast, a reference to the US F1 saga a few years back, Haas insists he is deadly serious about his team, Haas Formula, and will therefore not be rushed into things.

While Dallara has been linked with the team as chassis supplier, Haas having met up with representatives from the Italian chassis builder at Indianapolis last weekend, and Ferrari as engine supplier, many more pieces of the jigsaw still have to be put in place - including drivers - and as Haas rightly points out the new season is effectively only seven months away.

Chris Balfe

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Steve W, 01/06/2014 19:40

"engine supply, a chassis supply and team personnel...

Well, is that all?"

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2. Posted by gturner38, 31/05/2014 4:03

"Paul C, there are a lot of people with NASCAR experience in North Carolina, but that translates to F1 about as well as American football players can walk onto a rugby field and expect success. They aren't going to be building tube framed cars or setting the car up through intuition. As it is, the car might be built in North Carolina, but it is going to spend most of the year in England. Will the American staff uproot itself from mid-April until mid-September to work on the cars over there or will they be hiring a second group of staff from the Carbon Fibre Triangle? In some ways I have no problem with Haas wanting a facility in the US doing some of the work, but when he suggests he's going to bring American efficiency to the team rather than throwing money at it like the Europeans, adding complexity makes it hard to take them seriously."

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3. Posted by bfairey, 30/05/2014 15:22

"He must be kidding, Dallara as a chassis builder. Perhaps as a money saver he can run a Indy car, he he he!!!"

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4. Posted by Tony B Liar, 30/05/2014 15:02

"Paul C, you are correct that the good 'ol boys of NASCAR would revolutionise F1: drum brakes, steel wheels with five-nuts, cross ply tyres (sorry tires), trolley jacks, carburetors, iron blocks, etc. Mind you, at least those guys have proper punch-ups when they fall out - unlike the big butch men in F1. "

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5. Posted by Carugatese, 30/05/2014 10:33

"They lack engine supply, chassis supply, team personnel, drivers included, having only a list of names. What are we talking about?"

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6. Posted by Sir Bloke of Abbottastan, 30/05/2014 9:36

"And this is the last we'll hear of Team Hass F1. It's the same story, using the same excuses, every time from these American hopefuls. The USF1 team , from a few years ago, said the same thing. And it's a similar story about the New Jersey F1 Race. "

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7. Posted by Paul C, 30/05/2014 4:43

"I hope Haas does a TON of test miles or kilometers. Charlotte, NC isn't lacking in skilled and experienced motorsports people. It's just that a lot of them are NASCAR people. That would be neat. The Wood Brothers revolutionized Indy in the 60's. Look out F1. "

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8. Posted by Dudley Pope, 29/05/2014 16:57

"A very sensible decision, and I am sure we will look forward to seeing the team in 2016."

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9. Posted by LifelessDead, 29/05/2014 16:49

"Hemm.... buy is for Ferarri engines, buy in for Dallara chassis... where does Haas think he'll make the difference? This is not Indy, nor GP2*, so really, where does he think he'll find the time difference that will get him further up the grid than the Dallara/HTR combination?

*) Speaking of Dallara, GP2 & WSR3.5, etc are great cars (Indy DW12 less so, they build anything you want), but they're competing with themselves in those classes. The HRT was more or less an updated GP2 for around $7 million. Haas would need a really large sum of $$$ to get Dallara to focus on something that isn't part of their main revenue stream."

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Haas defers F1 entry to 2016

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