Haas won't evaluate 2020 driver line-up until summer break
- Published on 17 Jun 2019 11:40
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says that he is not thinking about the American squad's driver line-up at the moment, as he is more concentrated on fixing missed opportunities.
Haas currently finds itself eighth in the constructors' standings, slipping down the order after going three races with no points following the season opener in Australia.
The team had issues with its tyres in the early part of the season, but managed to score more top ten finishes in Spain and Monaco, before another difficult outing in Canada.
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It is currently in its third season with its line-up of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, joint with Mercedes for the longest pairing on the grid.
This time 12 months ago, major doubt lingered over the future of Grosjean after a series of poor results - but this time around, Steiner says there is "no issue" with its line-up.
"As we did last year, I said to Gene [Haas] 'I don't want to speak about drivers before the summer break'," Steiner said. "I want what he said - to get the missed opportunities right."
Steiner added that he can't blame the drivers for things that have gone wrong this year, and insists that nothing will be looked into until during the summer break in August.
"That's more important than starting to think about drivers because I can't blame the drivers for what happened this year up to now," he added.
"At the moment, we're motivating them to do the best they can and then we can think about the drivers during the summer break."
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Replies (7)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
i'd love to see rossi in there
xoya
Posts: 583
They should get someone a bit more level headed this time around. They have two loose cannons in their ranks.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Absolutely. And if one should go, it should be Grosjean methinks. The kinda unevenness in combination with his lack of pace kinda indicates that he is past his prime.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
As much as i like him, Grosjean's performances looks past his peak or he has no motivation at all. Had he stuck around with Renault, it would have been a lot different.
xoya
Posts: 583
I would also drop Grosjean, if for nothing else then for his age compared to Magnussen.
Although, after Canada, I wouldn't be too surprised if they end up dropping Magnussen (as well).
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Agreed, they need to change at least one driver. For me this should have been done this year already. Grosjean is just not performing enough. The question is who to replace him with. You would want to have someone who performs highly and is more reliable. I am not sure what options they have but anyone of the pool of mercedes would do OK. Maybe this could be an spot for Ocon or Russell. Maybe someone fro Indycar Rossi, Rosenqvist come to mind. Either way an change would be good for Haas.
Kean
Posts: 692
Personally I'd replace either driver with Ocon in a heartbeat, the first on the chopping block should be Grosjean though. Also, Vergne or Wehrlein would be better options than the drivers they have. If they should go for an american, then Rossi and Newgarden comes to mind, I'm also quite impressed with Herta.