Look for Haas on Ferrari F1 cars this weekend

The word 'Haas' is on the lower sidepods of the Ferraris driven by Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, who are currently 4th and 12th in the standings. Haas is trying to become the first American-based F1 team since 1986, and this sponsorship allows the company to become engaged in F1 ahead of entering the championship in a few years' time. Ferrari is now referring to Haas as an "official supplier", implying that the Italian manufacturer is now using Haas CNC machines to help make parts for its cars – something we hope to find more about for our August issue of Machinery magazine. Scuderia Ferrari's team principal, Marco Mattiacci, confirms that technical discussions with Haas are ongoing, adding that: "This agreement strengthens our existing connections with the USA, an important market not only for our company, but also for Scuderia Ferrari, as it is one where the team already benefits from several important partnerships." Meanwhile, Gene Haas has given his reason for the sponsorship: "Exposing Scuderia Ferrari fans and Ferrari customers to the quality of Haas Automation CNC machine tools is an important first step to expanding our global reach." Formula One action from Silverstone begins today with two practice sessions: 10 to 11:30am and 2 to 3:30pm. You can listen to Practice 2 at 13:55pm here. Tomorrow (Saturday, July 5) a 10 to 11 am practice session precedes qualifying at 1 pm. The British Grand Prix, the ninth race of the 19-race Formula One schedule, is on BBC2 at 12 pm on Sunday, July 6.