It’s not day by day that the proprietor of a sports activities crew will get to pattern what their group does. Robert Kraft received’t be lining up in a New England Patriots pre-season sport any time quickly.
But motorsport can supply such a possibility, in a approach – one which Gene Haas grabbed with each arms on Friday. He, and his Components 1 crew, had been showing on the annual Goodwood Pageant of Velocity motoring and motorsport extravaganza for the primary time, and to mark the event, Haas obtained behind the wheel of a VF-23 for a run up the enduring hillclimb.
The run was the brainchild of crew principal Ayao Komatsu, who drove earlier than Haas on Thursday alongside Toyota manufacturing unit driver Kazuki Nakajima.
Gene Haas discovered going slowly the toughest half. Bob McCaffrey/Getty Photographs
“When Ayao first requested me about driving right here at Goodwood, it appeared like an terrible lot of labor only for an tour up a hill,” stated Haas. “I didn’t know in regards to the Pageant of Velocity beforehand truthfully, however it was intriguing to me, and now I perceive why so many followers come right here.
“It’s the occasion to see so many alternative vehicles – previous and new, not solely Components 1 vehicles – so it actually does supply a possibility for followers to see vehicles that they’ve solely seen on TV or within the motion pictures. I’m liking the vehicles from the ’40s and ’50s as a result of it’s superb that these groups had been making vehicles that went 150mph with the essential instruments they’d in comparison with now.”
The run up the hill gave Haas a brand new perspective of what he’s been backing for the final decade. However whereas driving an F1 automobile is a feat in itself, Haas had one other problem to cope with. Grand Prix vehicles are designed to do one factor: go quick. At Goodwood, that’s one factor he wasn’t doing.
“My first impression of being within the Components 1 automobile was that it’s very tight in there,” he stated. “There are numerous nuances you must study in regards to the clutch, shifting, and there are 1,000,000 issues happening.
“The toughest factor to do although is to attempt to drive a really quick automobile at a really sluggish pace.”
Haas F1’s 10-year celebrations proceed over the remainder of the weekend, with race drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman each set to look on Saturday and Sunday.
- CLICK HERE to stream the Goodwood Pageant of Velocity LIVE, or watch on the RACER+ app.
