Haas F1 Team continues its recruitment
In a statement, the Haas team announces the recruitment of three new individuals in the organization's structure. These are Dave O'Neill, Rob Taylor, and Ben Agathangetou.
Haas continues its recruitment. The American team, which will be based in Banbury, has appointed former staff members from Ferrari and Red Bull to key positions. Dave O’Neill has become team director, Rob Taylor chief designer, and Ben Agathangelou chief aerodynamicist.
O’Neill has already taken on the role of team director at Jordan between 1998 and 2005, before moving to A1 GP and more recently to Marussia. O’Neill’s experience is very valuable for the Haas F1 Team. His task was to bring Manor to life over the past six months. Recruiting staff, purchasing equipment and infrastructure, supervising the design of the car, and selecting suppliers are all roles he will have to take on, according to the statement.
He is accompanied by Taylor, who has had several experiences in F1: he was notably head of the design team at McLaren from 2006 to 2010. Previously, he was head of vehicle design for Red Bull, Toro Rosso, and Jaguar. He also worked at Benetton (1989-1992), Ferrari (1992-1997), and Arrows (1997-2002).
The latest recruit for the American team is Agathangelou, who was with Red Bull from 2002 to 2007. He also worked on the IndyCar side on the development of the DW12 chassis currently in use. In the past, he was an engineer at Dallara. In F1, he began his career at McLaren in 1994 as an aerodynamic analyst before joining Tyrrell in August 1997 and then Honda Racing in April 1998 to prepare for the Japanese entry for the 2000 season.
According to the press release from Haas F1 Team, Agathangelou and Taylor have designed the car for the 2016 season, which is currently 60% complete. Günther Steiner, the team’s director, commented on the team’s progress: Although there is still a lot of work to be done, a lot has already been accomplished to make Haas F1 Team competitive in 2016. Our technical partnership with Ferrari has allowed us to develop our car at an exceptional pace. The way we are building our team is both different and new, but it works. We are investing, we are committing to F1 and, more importantly, we are on schedule. Next year, our cars will have been tested, and we will be ready for Melbourne.
