The Haas F1 Team is on schedule to become the first American-led team to join the grid in over 30 years when it makes its expected debut next season.
The team, led by owner Gene Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner, have confirmed a number of signings to its technical department, giving the outfit a major boost.
Dave O’Neill, formerly of Marussia – where he helped start the team in just six months – and Jordan, will take on the role of team manager.
He will be joined by Rob Taylor as chief designer. Taylor has worked with a number of teams in the past, including Marussia where he held the position of deputy chief designer. Prior to that, he worked with McLaren as senior design team leader, and Jaguar before that.
Ben Agathangelou takes up the chief aerodynamicist position having joined from Ferrari. He oversaw the upgrade of the team’s wind tunnel and testing systems in Maranello.
Agathangelou has also worked with Dallara, and was head of aerodynamics for Jaguar and later Red Bull Racing from 2002 through 2007.
Haas also confirmed that its 60 per cent wind tunnel model has been completed and has undergone “numerous hours” of testing in Ferrar’s Maranello facility, but Steiner admitted there remains much to do before 2016.
“While there is still a lot of work to do, a lot has already been accomplished for Haas F1 Team to be competitive when we join the F1 grid in 2016,” he said.
“Our technical partnership with Ferrari has allowed us to develop our car and our people at an exceptional pace. The way we’re going about our F1 team is new and different, but it’s working. We’re committed to our plan, we’re committed to F1 and, most importantly, we’re on schedule. This time next year, our cars will have already been tested and we’ll be readying them for Melbourne.”
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