Gene Haas says having Esteban Gutierrez as one of Haas F1’s drivers in 2016 is part of “a very sound business model” for the team.
Haas confirmed on Saturday in Austin that the team would name its second driver alongside Romain Grosjean at next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, with Gutierrez to be unveiled at his home race. When asked by F1i about the plan for the announcement, Haas replied: “Mexico City on Friday night we will announce our driver.
“He’s a Ferrari reserve driver, maybe you can connect the dots!”
With Ferrari selecting Gutierrez for the seat as part of its technical partnership with the Haas F1 Team, Haas says having a North American driver is also beneficial.
“It’s all going to be very important, it all kind of connects together in terms of not only the drivers but sponsorships. It’s a very sound business model, so ultimately when we start racing next year we want to have business partners to be part of our team.”
However, Haas says it will be Grosjean who is going to be the team’s lead driver heading in to its debut season.
“Yes, exactly. He’s going to be our senior driver, we’re going to depend upon his experience to help us set-up the cars, to explain the tracks to us, help with strategy … I think that’s all really critical because you can’t really do that without experience.”
F1 closing on two-tier engine regulations
Technical analysis: Exclusive pictures of the 2015 Honda power unit
Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
