NASCAR team owner Haas interested in entering F1

"We have responded to the FIA's 'call for expression of interest' regarding a Formula One entry on behalf of Haas Racing Development," the Stewart-Haas co-owner said in a statement on Thursday.

"We respect the FIA's evaluation process and will share more details in the coming weeks."

The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in December it was seeking by January 3 formal expressions of interest from would-be new teams.

Full applications have to be submitted by February 10 with a decision due on Feb 28.

Formula One last admitted new constructors in 2010, with a U.S. F1 team initially accepted but later removed from the entry list when it became apparent they were not in a position to race.

That failed team was led by Ken Anderson, a former technical director of Haas CNC Racing which was the previous name of Stewart-Haas.

Formula One media reports indicated Haas, who owns a full-scale rolling road wind tunnel in North Carolina, is working with former Red Bull and Jaguar technical director Guenther Steiner on the latest project.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)