Haas reveals issue to its hope of landing a future American driver

Haas

Haas reveals issue to its hope of landing a future American driver

F1 has not had an American driver for six years

GPFans Staff

Monday 14 June 2021 16:46

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed to discussing the prospect with F1 of bringing an American driver into the sport

Haas, the only American-owned team on the grid, has never fielded a driver from the country during its six seasons in F1.

In fact, the last American driver to contest a grand prix was Alexander Rossi, who contested five races with Marussia in 2015. After switching to IndyCar for 2016, he won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie.

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Asked if he had been in contact with Domenicali, Steiner answered: "Formula 1 would like an American driver, we would like one.

"At the moment, obviously, they are looking into it. There is one thing out there, the Super Licence, which not many have got.

"But for sure, we are always looking. I spoke with Stefano about it, what could be done, what couldn't be done, and we tried to make a plan for the future.

"It needs to be something not immediate because you cannot do anything to get somebody in because of the Super Licence but obviously it will come.

"We just need to be patient and at some stage...there are a few guys in Formula 3 that look promising. Let's see what can be done."

Fittipaldi Indy 500 performance impresses Steiner

Pietro Fittipaldi stood in for the injured Romain Grosjean at the final two races of last season and was retained in his test driver role this term.

The Brazilian 24-year-old made his third IndyCar appearance of the season at the showpiece Indy 500 with a performance that caught Steiner's attention.

"I looked at the 500 this year as we were not racing and Pietro did a very good job in qualifying," added Steiner. "Qualifying for the 500 in a one-off in 13th is pretty good.

"In the race, it didn't go his way [he finished 25th]. I think he was out of sequence with the yellow and then he did a fuel strategy which obviously didn't work out but he did a good job.

"Obviously, I watch him, what he does outside. I interact with him because he doesn't live so far from me. He is doing one more race in IndyCar this year and we will keep on watching him.

"But if I look into it to see how he would do in an F1 car, I don't need to. He did it already last year in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

"We put him in the car and he did a good job but it is always interesting if these guys go IndyCar racing and especially the 500."