Haas Lola: The Sudden Collapse of an American F1 Team

We continue our journey through the stories of the past. While our focus has been on forgotten F1 drivers and bringing together stories of several forgotten teams in one article, we are now expanding our coverage by exploring the complete history of individual teams. Next, we look back at the Haas Lola partnership, an ambitious F1 project that collapsed after just two seasons.

Several F1 teams had ambitious plans in the 1980s, with experienced drivers and talented engineers, but many disappeared before they could reach their full potential. Haas Lola was one of them.

Haas Lola partnership in F1

Team Haas competed in the 1985 and 1986 F1 World Championship. Its story involved a former world champion, a promising Ford turbo engine programme, influential engineers, and sponsorship agreement that initially appeared capable of supporting a serious challenge.

The American Dream Behind Haas Lola

The Haas Lola project was established by American racing entrepreneur Carl Haas and Teddy Mayer, the former McLaren team principal who had helped guide the British team through one of the most successful periods. On the other hand was Carl Haas who was known figure in American motorsport, particularly through his involvement in IndyCar racing.

The project wasn’t connected to Gene Haas, the American businessman who later funded the modern Haas F1 team, both operations carried the Haas name, they belonged to different periods and had separate histories.

The original Haas Lola entered F1 at a time when turbocharged engines were becoming increasingly important. Competition was very intense, development costs were risign, and success required much more than simply putting the car on the starting grid; a new team needed reliable machinery, experienced personnel, money, and the patience to develop its package.

Why Was the Team Called Haas Lola?

One of the most interesting details about the team concerns the Lola name. Despite being widely known as Haas Lola, the operation wasn’t a conventional Lola factory F1 team. Carl Haas was the American importer for Lola racing cars, and the Lola name offered a familiar identity in the motorsport world.

The F1 cars entered by Haas at the time, were developed through the team’s own engineering organisation, known as FORCE; short for Formula One Race Car Engineering.

Based in Colnbrook, England, FORCE was responsible for the technical work behind the team’s cars, the THL1 and THL2 chassis represented engineering ambitions of the Haas operation rather than a direct design programme conducted by Lola Cars International.

Its important because the team’s identity sometimes creates confusion about the role played by the British Constructor, the Lola branding was part of the project’s commercial and sporting identity, but the engineering operation was centred on FORCE. The team also assembled an impressive group of technical personnel, like Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey. These names would become significant in the wider history of F1 later, making the team’s brief existence even more interesting in retrospect.

Beatrice Foods Provided the Financial Foundation

A major reason Haas Lola attracted attention was the backing of Beatrice Foods; a large American food company, its involvement gave the team access to financial resources that could support F1 programme.

The sponsorship was closely associated with Beatrice chief executive Jim Dutt, who supported the company’s involvement in the project; with corporate backing behind it, Haas Lola was able to pursue plans that extended beyond simply surviving from one race to the next.

The original vision included a major Ford engine partnership and a programme designed to make the team a serious competitor.

The financial arrangement was widely described as an ambitious, multi-year commitment, with figures of around $80 million per year reported in accounts of the project.

For a new team like Haas Lola, dependable sponsorship was especially important during the turbo era.

Engine development, chassis, aerodynamic research, testing, and the employment of experienced staff all demanded significant resources. Haas depended on more than the performance of its cars. Its future was closely connected to the continued support of Beatrice’s management, and that relationship would become the defining weakness of the project.

A Difficult Start With the THL1 in 1985

Haas Lola made its debut in F1 in 1985, the leading driver of the team was already a champion of F1, Alan Jones.

However, the team didn’t have its planned Ford turbo engine ready for its initial appearances. Instead, the THL1 used a Hart turbocharged four-cylinder engine with the longer term engine programme was being prepared. The car had limited opportunities, and reliability remained a challenge.

Jones was an experienced driver who understood to extract performance from a F1 car,, but even a World Champion couldn’t compensate for every technical limitation. The team needed more development time, stronger reliability, and the car that promised by its original plans!

The THL2 and the Promise of Ford’s Turbo Engine

The 1986 season was supposed to be a major step for the team, they introduced the THL2 and moved to Ford GBA V6 turbocharged engine.

Unlike the temporary arrangement with Hart, the Ford programme formed part of the project’s larger ambition. A dedicated works engine partnership offered the prospect of close cooperation between the chassis and engine programmes, giving the engineers a better foundation on which to develop the car.

The driver line-up also included Patrick Tambay, while Eddie Cheever became another driver associated with the team’s history. With experienced F1 drivers and a technically ambitious organisation, Haas Lola had the basic ingredients for a more competitive future.

However, the new engine arrived in a period when the team was already facing uncertainty over its finances; the Ford V6 needed development, and the chassis required refinement, neither could deliver its full potential immediately.

The 1986 F1 season was highly competitive, with bigger teams benefiting from years of experience, on the other hand, Haas was attempting to establish itself while developing new machinery and dealing with instability away from the circuit.

The team struggled to turn its potential into consistent points finishes, scoring championship points in only three races. Its best result came at the 1986 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where it finished fourth.

More Teams of 80s: 5 Forgotten 1980s F1 Teams That Disappeared Forever (Vol. 1)

The Beatrice Takeover Changed Everything

The most important turning point came away from F1; in 1986, a change in Beatrice Foods’ leadership undermined the sponsorship arrangement on which the team depended.

Jim Dutt, the executive closely associated with the project, lost his position following a corporate takeover, the new management didn’t share the same commitment to F1, leaving Haas Lola without the secure financial backing it had expected.

Once that support became uncertain, the entire plan began to unravel for Haas Lola.

Losing Ford Made the Future Even More Difficult

The Ford engine relationship was another part of the team’s ambitions, Carl Haas had worked to secure a works partnership around Ford’s new engines, but the weakening of the team’s financial position damaged the prospects of continuing that arrangement.

Ford eventually directed its future works engine plans toward Benetton for the 1987 season. This left Haas Lola facing a serious problem, it no longer had the secure engine arrangement that had been central to its original strategy.

The problem wasn’t simply a question of finding another engine, a new supplier would require negotiations, funding, and time.

Once both foundations weakened, the team had little room to adapt.

Why Did Haas Lola Fail After Only Two Seasons?

The team’s short life cannot be explained by a single disappointing race or one unsuccessful car. Haas Lola was caught between ambitious expectations and the realities of building a competitive F1 operation.

The loss of Ford’s future works engine support then removed another essential part of the plan, with no secure route to finance and machinery for the following season, continuing in F1 became difficult to justify.

This is what makes Haas Lola an important example in the history of the championship; technical talent, experienced management, and ambitious funding can create a promising starting point, but none guarantees survival. F1 demands a long term commitment, and a team can be vulnerable when its future depends on a small number of major commercial relationships.

Carl Haas decided not to continue the F1 operation into 1987, rather than attempt to rebuild the project without its original fianncial engine support, he returned his attention to American racing, where Newman/Haas racing would continue to enjoy considerable success in IndyCar competition.

More Teams:
Read More: 5 Forgotten F1 Teams of the 1980s That Vanished (Vol. 2)
Read More: F1’s Vanishing Grid: Short-Lived Teams and Privateers (1971–1972)

Featured IMage Credits: Photo by Falcadore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.