Haas relieved to avoid ‘madness’ of 2019 F1 driver market

Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner says he is relieved to have avoided the “madness” of the 2019 driver market, adding his side is in a “comfortable position”.

Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to leave Red Bull for Renault in 2019 blew what looked set to be a relatively quiet 2019 driver market wide open, setting off a chain reaction of moves, while Fernando Alonso also confirmed he will quit the sport at the end of the current campaign.

Haas is yet to confirm its driver plans for next season but at the Belgian Grand Prix Steiner revealed the American squad is moving closer to making a final decision, with an announcement expected in a matter of weeks.

“We feel comfortable about where we are, the position we are, because we are not taking part of the madness, ‘we need this guy, but he wants to go there’,” Steiner told media ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

“We are not part of this madness. We are in a good place. And I would love to announce it today who we have, but it’s just a few things we need to figure out, and then we will do it. We are very confident of the position we are in. We have nothing to hurry.”

Following a strong opening half of the campaign, Kevin Magnussen is expected to take up his option to stay with Haas for 2019, but teammate Romain Grosjean’s future at the team remains uncertain, despite a recent turnaround in form.

Steiner refused to comment on whether he was entirely happy with the performances of his current two drivers but said he was confident Haas will have a strong driver line-up next year. He also explained the team’s improved position in 2018 has led to a number of enquires.

“I would say we had a lot of approaches, and I respect everybody approaching us. But the driver market, I think it’s falling into place now anyway,” he said. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, who we would have spoken about, and we still need to make our decision.

“In the beginning it was difficult to find anybody to drive for us, and now quite a few people want to drive for us for obvious reasons. It has changed and turned around. Again, I’m very confident, I’m not losing any sleep about not having two good drivers next year, because we have got two ones now, so we are good.”

Ferrari protégé and Sauber driver Charles Leclerc has emerged as a possible option for Haas, but Steiner stressed Haas is not being told what do to with its driver line-up by Ferrari.

“There are a few candidates out there who still haven’t got a seat. It’s not many left, he’s obviously one of them, but I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Steiner added. “I have no information what he’s going to do, if he’s staying at Sauber, his contract situation, or with Ferrari.

“Charles is doing a great job I think. He’s stepped up. As I said last year, we were, I wouldn’t say afraid about the rookie status, but he has passed that now. I have got a lot of respect for the guy.”