Haas Automation gets $100M advertising value from F1

Grosjean in the Haas in Shanghai

Haas Automation, the machine tool manufacturer owned by American tycoon Gene Haas, is on track to get an estimated $100 million of exposure from Formula One auto racing this year write Christian Sylt and Sam Hall.

Haas Automation is the most visible brand on the F1 team owned by Mr Haas which launched last month at the season-opener in Australia. It is America’s first F1 team for 30 years and by finishing in sixth place its driver Romain Grosjean also made it the first team for 14 years to score points in its debut race. He followed it up with a fifth at the Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks later thanks to some stunning race strategy masterminded by Principal Race Engineer Ayao Komatsu.

Although Mr Grosjean slipped to 14th in yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix, his team-mate Esteban Gutierrez finished for the first time this year and came home 19th. It gives Haas a tally of 18 points and puts the team fifth in the standings, ahead of established marques like Renault and 12-time champions McLaren. The Haas points haul is already nine times higher than the total scored by HRT, Lotus and Virgin – the three newest teams that previously joined F1.

Points mean prizes and after the end of the season the teams are paid a share of F1’s prize fund which hit $ 863.1 million last year according to British newspaper the Daily Telegraph. However, the benefits for Haas are already revving up.

Mr Haas has been inspired by the savvy strategy of energy drinks firm Red Bull which is the most dominant brand on its flagship team Red Bull Racing team and has reaped the rewards as a result.

In 2005, Red Bull’s first full-year as a majority team owner, its logos took up even more space on the F1 car than they do now. As its brand became better known in F1 Red Bull reduced the number of its logos on the car and sold more space to sponsors such as its official timekeeper watch-maker TAG Heuer. In turn this has led to a reduction in Red Bull’s spending on F1. According to the latest financial statements for Red Bull Racing’s parent company Red Bull Technology, over the five years to the end of 2014 Red Bull’s investment fell 44.2% to $94 million.

Keeping its cars free of sponsorship clutter for the first few years boosted the visibility of Red Bull’s brand in F1 and it stayed in top gear after winning four titles back-to-back from 2010. Similarly, Haas Automation is making the most of the team’s success as it has few other sponsors to share in its glory. Forbes.com