Haas: Replacing Grosjean/Magnussen mid-season would be 'desperate'

Haas would have to be “desperate” to replace either Romain Grosjean or Kevin Magnussen during the 2019 Formula 1 season as a way to stop their on-track clashes, according to team chief Gunther Steiner.

Grosjean and Magnussen have made contact on-track at three races this season, including both of the last two, with their recent clash at Hockenheim prompting Haas to put firmer team orders in place for this weekend in Hungary.

Steiner has said Haas would not take any decision on its 2020 line-up until the summer, but stressed making a change this season was not a current consideration.

“At the moment, I’m not thinking about that. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, because then you’ll get just more questions than answers,” Steiner said.

“You end up disrupting a lot of things. So that would be a desperate move almost, if I have to do that one.”

Haas is known to have an option on Magnussen for next year, while Grosjean is out of contract, leading to speculation he could be on his way out of the team.

Various names have been linked to a drive at Haas, including Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, but Steiner is looking to wait before the market begins to move.

“It’s like every year, somewhere a domino has to fall and then all the other ones get in place,” Steiner said.

“There’s a lot of non-movement at the moment and everybody knows who is the first one to move here, and then the other ones will fall in place. Maybe nothing moves and then nothing falls in place, but at the moment nobody has moved, and until something moves, there are a lot of things going on.

“There are quite a few drivers whose contract is up for renewal, and if they are all confirmed, it’s very difficult for a lot of things to move.”