bhall wrote:I think folks sometimes confuse the absence of expertise in a given discipline for an inability to acquire expertise in that discipline, when they're really not the same at all. What that means here is that there's very little reason for the vast majority of race engineers/designers/whatever in the U.S. to have F1 know-how simply because there are precious few avenues in the U.S. for which that knowledge is applicable.
If you work in NASCAR, for instance, in what ways would it be beneficial for you to possess the knowledge required to design flexible carbon fiber wings? And if you're the owner of that team, why would you hire someone with that background? In both cases, someone who knows more about NASCAR than F1 is far and away the better fit, regardless of anything else. So, naturally, that know-how tends be more in-demand.
But, does that mean such knowledge is a Holy Grail for which only the Old Countries have a key? That's bullshit. The resources and potential to undertake any competitive endeavor exists in abundance here in the States, just as it does across the pond. It's but a question of putting them all to work.
Random factoid: Did you know that an American team,
Pratt & Miller, recently dominated its class in GT racing for the better part of 15 years?
I also think the idea that a Formula One team needs a European base is a bit of a red herring. For one thing, it's a tacit implication that it's somehow impossible for man and material to cross the Atlantic Ocean, when anyone who's ever been on an airplane can tell you differently. While it's obviously not an ideal situation, one can be anywhere in the world, with anything needed for the trip, in less than 24 hours. All that's needed is a plan.
Beyond that, it's not like any current F1 team has a leg up on anyone in this regard, because it's FOM that handles the logistics for flyaway grands prix, not the teams themselves. They just have to get their --- together on time. Otherwise, they move everything via truck, a fact of life for American race teams who do the same thing for up to 36 weeks per year, throughout a country only marginally smaller than all of Europe.
Random factoid: Did you know that the U.S. is home to
four of the top-10 shipping companies in the world?
None of this is to suggest in any way that Gene Haas is a lock for F1, because I don't believe that's the case at all. I just think if he fails, it won't be the result of anything that's prompted the hand-waving that seems to make up the lion's share of what's being bandied about around here. On the contrary, It will be because he simply couldn't get it done. In no way will it be because it cannot possibly be done.
