Why Haas chose Romain Grosjean over Nico Hulkenberg

Haas

Why Haas chose Grosjean over Hulkenberg

Guenther Steiner explains all.

Matthew Scott

Thursday 19 September 2019 15:30

Guenther Steiner says the desire for greater continuity pushed Haas to retain Romain Grosjean in 2020, rather than make an approach for Nico Hulkenberg.

Confirmation of Esteban Ocon replacing Hulkenberg at Renault freed the German to discuss with rival teams, with his experience and strong showings in the midfield likely to tempt many teams.

With Haas enduring a miserable 2019 season in which they have struggled to understand their car, they had been tipped to seek a change of fortunes by drafting in Hulkenberg, but Grosjean was confirmed ahead of the Singapore GP.

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Giving the Frenchman the chance to prove himself away from the distractions of 2019's woes was a key factor in Haas' decision, Steiner explained.

"It was a close call, you know, because they are both very good drivers and I hope Nico stays in F1. I like him and he's a good driver," Steiner said.

"But in the end we decided to stay with Romain. He is with the team for four years, we know his highs and his lows. We know on a good day he's a very good driver. He knows the team very well.

"The biggest reason is our car this year is not performing as we want it to perform - which in the end has nothing to do with the drivers we've got at the moment. It's the car, we're very conscious about that.

"Now changing the driver, I don't know if it would help us make the car better. It could, but it could also not. Because the new guy wouldn't know where we start off.

"Romain was a big part of getting the understanding of why we are wrong with the car at the moment. He was a big help. And we didn't want to have any more unknowns or risks."

It remains to be seen if Hulkenberg will remain in F1 and Steiner revealed that he had not in fact received an offer from Haas.

"In the end, I want to clarify that - we decided to take Romain but I don't know if Nico would've come," he said.

"We spoke but we never made a formal offer. So I don't know if he would've accepted or not, that you need to ask him."