As with many Formula 1 teams, the newest kids on the block, Haas, also have a couple of young chargers on their books.
18-year-old American Santino Ferrucci has been joined by fellow GP3 racer, Arjun Maini, the 19-year-old hailing from the Indian metropolis of Bangalore.
Ferrucci has plotted the standard rise through to GP3, the tertiary category acting as a Formula 1 support across nine rounds, a championship previously won by Daniil Kvyat and Esteban Ocon.
Last year Ferrucci drove Haas’ VF-16 during both post-Silverstone test days, alongside his full-time duties in GP3, bagging a podium at Spa.
“I’m looking forward to continuing my development plan, working with them on the simulator and the car, it should be exciting,” the Connecticut native explains to Motorsport Week.
“It’ll be very similar to last year, a bit more simulator [work] this year, so I’ll be a bit more involved in the team, it being my second year, and also Haas being a bit more established now, in the first year everything’s obviously a little crazy.”
Ferrucci already feels he is profiting from being able to work alongside Formula 1 racers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, both podium finishers in the sport.
“With them I get to talk about the feeling of the car,” says Ferrucci, who cuts a more confident figure compared to 12 months ago.
“I get to learn off their feeling and how they debrief, they’re much more experienced, much more mature than me being 18.
“So just watching them work helps me work with my team [DAMS] better and I get more out of myself with them.”
Maini’s appointment, meanwhile, came as something of a surprise, though he had been in contact with Haas for several months, aided by advisor Karun Chandhok, who competed in 11 Grands Prix for backmarkers HRT and Lotus at the start of the decade.
Maini has taken a similar path to Ferrucci, negotiating the European single-seater ranks before joining GP3 three rounds into 2016, following an abortive F3 programme.
“It’s great to be a part of the F1 paddock and I need to learn as much as I can from the side lines and take these experiences with me, and hopefully it prepares me for what is to come in the season and the short-term GP3,” comments the amiable Indian.
Maini has had past connections with a Formula 1 team as part of Force India’s ‘One in a Billion’ project, though his affiliation lasted just one year, before he was dropped.
“Of course it prepares you,” he reflects on his past experience.
“It’s tough to have all that pressure when you’re really younger in karting, I think those experiences probably prepared me to be tougher in the future.
“It wasn’t easy after one year to be down and left on your own and finding your own way through, but that’s why Karun has been a great help to me, support from JK Tyres, pretty much from when I was young, that’s been helping me, I got good results in Formula 4 and the Toyota Racing Series and now we’re here in GP3 and a development role with Haas F1.
Both Ferrucci and Maini are competing in GP3 this year, the championship having begun at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last weekend.
Ferrucci, racing with DAMS, claimed a couple of points finishes, while Maini fared better, fighting off rival Dorian Boccolacci to take his maiden win in the series, and the first for his Jenzer team since 2012.
Both are confident of competing towards the sharp end of the grid across the remainder of 2017.
“ART is definitely on top,” says Ferrucci, thrilled by the prospect of running the No. 14 car this year, a nod to NASCAR legend Tony Stewart.
“We’re always inside the top eight, never really far behind, we’re only missing two-tenths to them at most.
“Ideally we’ll get some top five [finishes] this year, consistently in the top five for points, consistently on the podium, hopefully a couple of wins.”
Maini is also similarly hopeful, speaking before his maiden victory and elevation to third in the standings.
“I think we have a strong chance,” he says. “We’ve improved our one-lap pace, where we were lacking last year, and we already know we have one of the best race cars on the grid from last year, even from my inexperience I handled the tyres well.
“I’m looking forward to a good year ahead, but I’ll just do my job and keep working away.”
If both can enjoy a strong campaign in GP3, then further opportunities in higher categories – perhaps Formula 1 in the future – will surely follow.
