Haas team boss Günther Steiner has announced that he has spoken to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to make “a plan” for the future arrival of an American driver in the sport.
Haas, the only American-owned team on the grid, has never fielded a driver from the country in its six seasons in Formula 1.
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In fact, Alexander Rossi was the last American driver to contest a Grand Prix. In 2015 he drove five races with Marussia. After joining IndyCar in 2016, he won the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016.
When asked whether he had been in contact with Domenicali, Steiner replied: “Formula 1 would like to have an American driver, we would like one.
“Right now they’re obviously looking into it. There’s one thing out there, the super license, that not many have.
“But of course we are always on the lookout. I talked to Stefano about what could and could not be done and we tried to make a plan for the future.
“It doesn’t have to be immediate because there is nothing you can do to attract someone because of the super license, but obviously it will come.
“We just have to be patient and at some point … there will be a couple of guys in Formula 3 who look promising. Let’s see what can be done.”
Fittipaldi Indy 500 performance impresses Steiner
Pietro Fittipaldi represented the injured Romain Grosjean in the last two races of last season and remained in his test driver role this season.
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 because we weren’t in the race and Pietro did a very good job in qualifying,” added Steiner. “The qualification for the 500 in a single in 13th place is pretty good.
“It didn’t go his way in the race [he finished 25th]. I think he was out of order with the yellows and then he did a gasoline strategy that obviously didn’t work, but he did a good job.
“Of course I watch what he’s doing outside. I interact with him because he doesn’t live that far from me. He’s still racing in IndyCar this year and we’ll keep watching him.
“But if I’m looking at this to see how he would do in an F1 car, I don’t need to. He did it in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi last year.
“We put him in the car and he did a good job, but it’s always interesting when these guys do IndyCar races and especially the 500.”
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