Formula 1 newcomer Gene Haas could become Marussia’s saviour if rumours that he is looking to invest in the outfit turn out to be true.
A planned auction of Marussia’s 2014 equipment and cars was postponed whilst talks with a “credible investor” take place according to team boss John Booth. Could that investor be Haas?
Whilst it might seem unlikely that Haas, who has already secured a place on the 2016 grid with his Haas F1 Team, might throw money at another team, there are reasons why it would make sense.
First of all, Marussia operates on a budget of just £60 million ($90m) per season and is due to collect £40m ($60m) in prize money during the 2015 season thanks to Jules Bianchi’s two points.
However, the 2015 budget is likely to be far less as the team won’t have any 2015 development costs as they will be forced to run their 2014 chassis due to time restraints.
Therefore an investor would only need to invest enough money to purchase the assets needed to race, such as the chassis, pit equipment, transporter trucks and factory.
Haas has already acquired the teams factory so has already taken a step forward in owning the team. He is also rumoured to have acquired Marussia’s 2015 designs and already has a relationship with engine supplier Ferrari, as they will be powering his own cars in 2016.
So Haas’ investment would be minimal. Enough to cover the purchase of assets at around £10m ($15m) – which would go to repay some of the teams creditors – whilst employee salaries would be covered by the prize money.
Such a small sum – in F1 terms – could easily be covered by sponsorship.
He would then benefit from a year of on-track aerodynamic data, engine performance data and would acquire the services of highly experienced staff.
The cost of engines would likely be reduced by Ferrari, not only because Haas is a sponsor of the team this season and a future partner, but also because Ferrari will be keen to collect as much development data from as many cars as possible if they’re to catch Mercedes which supplies eight cars to Ferrari’s four.
Running Marussia for a single season would provide the Haas F1 Team with invaluable data when it finally comes to launching and operating their own team next year.
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