2 names are noticeably missing in the Tally Season Talks of the Haas F1 team

Haent F1 team boss Günther Steiner says he is not actively negotiating with Nico Hülkenberg about a Haas seat for 2021.

Maybe it should be. Or maybe at least he’s talking to Sergio Perez.

In fact, Steiner says he is not currently seriously negotiating with anyone about the team’s two seats in 2021. About the only names missing from the Haas F1 rumor mill for these seats appear to be current drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

The Russian Nikita Mazepan is the taste of the day for one of the seats, but whether that deal goes through is ultimately up to Ferrari and not Haas. Ferrari has technical ties with Haas, and if Ferrari Haas should send one or even two young Ferrari drivers to fill the seats in 2021, Haas and Steiner will follow Ferrari’s wishes.

The three most frequently mentioned Ferrari junior names are Mick Schumacher (everyone’s number 1), Callum Ilott, and Robert Shwartzman. Another Formula 2 race weekend – Nov. 26-28 in Bahrain – Schumacher has a big lead over Ilott. Shwartzman is fifth.

Mazepin, who is not an Academy driver but whose billionaire father Dmitry has money that would attract the attention of nearly all F1 teams, is sixth in the F2 standings. All four F1 candidates are on the right track by the end of 2020 and have enough Super License points to drive in F1 in 2021.

Dmitry (left) and Nikita Mazepin in Sochi last month, where Nikita finished second in a Formula 2 race.

Joe Portlock – Formula 1Getty Images

Other candidates for Haas are Sergio Perez (who loses his ride against Sebastian Vettel at Racing Point) and Free Agent Nico Hülkenberg. Perez and Hulkenberg each fit the profile of what team owner Gene Haas has been looking for in the past – a seasoned veteran who can provide feedback on the car and help nurture a younger driver.

This was the excuse for keeping Romain Grosjean on board for every five years, even though Grosjean has seen a steady decline in production with Haas. He never got more than 13th place in the final ranking for Haas and is 18th in 2021. Grosjean is even behind Hulkenberg in the overall ranking this year, although Hulkenberg has only started two races and Grosjean has started all eleven races so far.

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Grosjean has scored 37, 8 and 2 points over the past three seasons. At 34, he’s no longer qualifying as a rider with a potential upside, and the team’s lack of overall success speaks to Grosjean’s ability to groom a less experienced rider.

To quote former Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, “We finished you last. We can finish without you last.”

Actually, Haas won’t be the last. It’s the ninth of ten teams, but you get the picture.

Kevin Magnussen, 27, has been with Haas for the past four seasons and is less successful than Grosjean this year. Magnussen has only scored 1 point and is in 19th place in the overall ranking. The only drivers to lead the Haas drivers in the standings are goalless Williams drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.

It is also interesting that during the five-year history of the Haas F1 Team as “America’s Team” there was apparently no interest in bringing in or even caring for an American driver. How much fun would it be to see Josef Newgarden in F1? Or are you bringing Alexander Rossi back to this series?

Rossi is reportedly under contract with Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar series until 2024. Newgarden is currently with Team Penske in IndyCar. However, both drivers have shown an interest in Formula 1 in the past (Rossi even tried Backmarker Marussia in 2015), and most top athletes and teams have never hit a deal that they couldn’t find a way out of when a It got a better deal.

“(To sign an American driver) would be an ambition, but at the moment, in my opinion, nobody in the USA is ready for Formula 1,” Steiner said in 2018.

Alexander Rossi signed a multi-year contract with Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2019.

Tom PenningtonGetty Images

Steiner and Haas have referred to this in different words several times over the past five years. From a fan’s point of view, it’s hard to believe that a Newgarden or a Rossi cannot rival a Magnussen or a Grosjean or a Russell or a Latifi. Let’s just say we want them to try.

In retrospect, were Grosjean and Magnussen even ready for this Haas challenge? If so, who is to blame for their lack of development and the fact that they have become consummate baking markers?

It is clear that the Grosjean-Magnussen tandem did not work at Haas. Neither of them deserved another year with this team. Fighting the Williams F1 team for ninth place in the team standings in their fifth year can’t possibly be what team owner Gene Haas had in mind when he started this team. There is no way he went into that F1 career saying, “I really hope that at least one of our drivers can get 10th every now and then by the fifth year.”

It’s time for Haas to clear the decks and replace its two current drivers if he really hopes to move up the overall standings. What is now clearly going on is not working.

We hope that the Haas team can put Schumacher and Hülkenberg (or Perez) in their places next year. Give the fans something to see. Give the fans a little hope.

“I would definitely not be against it,” said Steiner in an interview with the German outlet Sport1 when he was asked about Schumacher. “The decision of who Ferrari passes on is up to Ferrari, not us. We can say we want one or the other, but I don’t know the contracts Ferrari has with the juniors.

“Who doesn’t want a Schumacher to be in Formula 1 again? Especially in the form he’s currently in Formula 2.”

Nico Hülkenberg was a super submarine for Racing Point in 2021.

Peter FoxGetty Images

As for Hulkenberg, Steiner was less engaged in the interview published on October 18.

“I haven’t spoken to Nico in the last few weeks,” said Steiner. “As a team, we have to know what we want before we approach people. Nico is very respected in Formula 1. We know what he can do. But we see what is best for us. We don’t negotiate with people without knowing where we are going.

“I find it dishonest to talk to people and then drop them.”

Mr. Steiner, please pick up the receiver. Start talking to people.

Who is your Haas F1 dream team of drivers for 2021? Mick Schumacher and Nico Hülkenberg? Nikita Mazepin and Sergio Perez? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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