Any investors looking to acquire the Haas F1 team would do well to find another target. It’s not for sale.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed that owner Gene Haas has fielded “numerous” offers to acquire the team, but he’s not biting.
Haas F1: Not for sale
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
It seems that from the very moment he introduced his eponymous team to the Formula 1 grid back in 2016, Gene Haas‘ commitment to the sport has been questioned.
The American team had an unconventional approach. Rather than attempt to manufacture a majority of its parts in-house, it sourced components from Dallara, Ferrari, and various other major motorsport companies to piece together a team from the ashes of the former Marussia F1 outfit.
In its first two seasons, Haas secured an eighth-place finish on the grid, which it followed up with a fifth in the championship in 2018. But things took a turn the following season.
Those lean years coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time buyout rumours began to pick up steam. But Gene Haas never sold, and team principal Ayao Komatsu has reaffirmed that Haas is sticking it out for the long run.
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Speaking to media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the British Grand Prix, Komatsu pointed out that Haas’ passion for motorsport has remained intact, and felt that Haas should celebrate that passion more deeply.
“This year when he came to Miami, I could see that he actually enjoyed just being there,” Komatsu said.
“He always asks lots of technical questions because he’s interested, but that hasn’t changed. On top of that, he was just enjoying the occasion.
“I thought, wow, I’m going to ask him if he wants to drive in Goodwood. He didn’t know much about Goodwood, but now he’s driving, he read about it, and he’s really excited for him to again experience things like that.”
While Komatsu wasn’t Haas F1’s original team principal, he’s been with the team since its start in 2016, and has seen how much the outfit has evolved.
“Honestly, [Gene Haas] seen lots of changes,” Komatsu said.
“He’s so engaged now. He understands the details as well.
“What’s the best way to put it? He’s always been very passionate about the sport and the result. He always wants us to improve, which is what we need from the owner. He was always behind us.
“I don’t know everything, but in the last 18 months he’s had numerous offers to buy the team.
“He’s not interested. He really enjoys being the owner of the F1 team. Currently one out of 10, from next year one out of 11. That’s such a privileged position to be in.
“He came in at a time when F1 wasn’t like this. He stuck with us during such a difficult period of COVID. Now he’s enjoying it.”
Komatsu reiterated that he and the team are “grateful that we have such a passionate owner, so committed.
“He’s not interested in selling at all. I can tell you recently I had some people really pushing to buy it — not interested. He even got annoyed that these guys are asking so many times.”
Why won’t Gene Haas sell his F1 team?
Gene Haas has a long history in the motorsport space, one that he’s committed to time and again.
Take, for example, his involvement in NASCAR. Back in 2009, Haas teamed up with driver Tony Stewart to introduce a Cup Series team to be called Stewart-Haas Racing. What began as a small operation blossomed into a full-time, four-car operation — until 2024.
Midway through the season, SHR announced it would be closing its doors as co-owner Tony Stewart continued to make the transition from NASCAR to NHRA drag racing. It would have been easy for Gene Haas to completely close the team’s doors; instead, he opted to pare it down to a one-car operation.
“My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” Haas said in a statement at the time. “Operating a four-car team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com.
“Maintaining my presence in Cup allows Haas Automation to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, which is important to our customers and distributors.”
Haas also features a two-car team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which has remained intact.
The SHR shake-up raised a lot of questions about Haas’ Formula 1 involvement, largely because the 2024 season kicked off with the bombshell that long-time team principal Guenther Steiner had been replaced by Komatsu.
Haas’ F1 shake-up, followed by the paring back of its NASCAR program, has largely represented a strategic rethink that allowed Gene Haas to rediscover what it is he enjoyed about motorsport in the first place.
Motorsport remains a critical marketing tool for Haas’ primary business, Haas Automation. The American made his fortune designing and selling the machining tools that populate auto shops around the globe — and even though the COVID-19 pandemic represented lean times, the demand for hardware and software developed by the company remains high. Motorsport offers a means to promote those products to audiences who have a natural affinity for CNC machinery.
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