Ecclestone thinks F1 entry for Haas 'unlikely'

Jan.24 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone does not think multimillionaire Nascar team owner Gene Haas can afford to enter formula one in 2015.

Haas, with an estimated net worth of $740 million, announced recently that he has responded to the FIA's 'call for expressions of interest' in filling the vacant slot in pitlane.

Haas co-owns the Nascar team Stewart-Haas, heads one of the best wind tunnels in the world, and according to Auto Motor und Sport he would start in F1 with a healthy three-digit million budget.

But F1 chief executive Ecclestone told Racer he thinks it "most unlikely" Haas will enter F1, because of the sport's huge costs.

"They (Haas) have been talking about it for three years," F1 business journalist Caroline Reid quoted Ecclestone as saying.

"Somebody can have 10 billion in the bank but it doesn't mean they are going to spend it."