Haas boss hints at young driver line-up for 2021

Haas

Haas boss hints at young driver line-up for 2021

"We all have a sell-by date" warns Steiner

Sam Hall

Wednesday 7 October 2020 17:47

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has hinted at a young driver line-up for the 2021 season as the team looks towards future regulation changes.

Steiner has been consistent across the season in his opinion that the current drivers market favours the buyer.

With experienced drivers such as Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg looking for seats and F2 talents like Callum Ilott and Mick Schumacher seemingly ready to make the step up, it is difficult to disagree with the Haas boss.

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However, with such talent on the market, and with current drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen also keen on retaining their seats, Steiner has been elusive in his responses to questions on possible line-ups.

In his column with The Race, Steiner hinted that an announcement may not be too far off, confirming once again the team is looking to the future with drivers who are not beyond their "sell-by date"

"We are still having talks with people; we are not just sitting here and thinking," wrote Steiner.

"I think the decision will come in the next few weeks hopefully, because we need to tell people. I don’t like to keep people on standby.

"Some of the drivers have been in Formula 1 already a long time. Will they be the best drivers in a few years? Maybe not. Maybe there’s young talent we need to develop for then.

"That’s where there is a fine line. We all have a sell-by date performance-wise, especially an athlete, and we need to be careful that we don’t invest in something that when we really need it, they’ve surpassed their peak."

F2 driver Callum Ilott will drive in practice one at the Eifel Grand Prix for Haas on Friday and, when coupled to Steiner's comments, will only serve to fuel speculation that the 21-year-old Briton could be in line to land one of the two seats at the team.

Conversely, with Grosjean being the driver to make way in the open session of the weekend, the Frenchman's future within the paddock will be up for debate.

Steiner has previously intimated the drivers in position for '21 will continue with the team for '22, something he has now confirmed.

He added: "For me what’s important is that we have drivers who will be here in 2022. If we put in somebody next year just for a year then we are just wasting our time.

"There are a lot of drivers who are used to the current spec of car, but if we have a new car and a new driver, it could get difficult, so I would like to have for ‘22 the drivers we have in ‘21."

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