Haas not determined to have American driver

Nov.19 (GMM) Haas, F1's new team for 2016, is not determined to field an American driver.

The outfit is setting up camp alongside founder Gene Haas' Nascar operation in North Carolina, but Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper quoted boss Gunther Steiner as saying there will also be an operations headquarters in Oxford, UK.

Haas has said an American driver would be ideal, but Steiner insists: "We want, above all, an experienced driver. We're a new team so we're not going to take too many risks. We need to be clever."

Behind the scenes, Haas continues to take shape. The team has now appointed long-time Nascar engineer Matt Borland to be president of technology, in a split role between the Stewart-Haas Nascar outfit and Haas F1 Team.

"He is well suited for this dual role that will ultimately lead to the betterment of Haas F1 Team and Stewart-Haas Racing," said Joe Custer, who also has a split role as Haas F1's chief operating officer and executive vice president of Stewart-Haas.

Borland said: "Now I have the best of both worlds, as I can continue to help improve Stewart-Haas Racing while building Haas F1 Team."