Interest in Haas seat still high despite 2019 struggles

Interest remains high in a Formula 1 race seat with Haas for the 2020 season despite its on-track struggles this year, according to team principal Gunther Steiner.

Haas was approached by a number of drivers over a drive for 2019 after an impressive campaign last year that saw it finish fifth in the constructors’ championship, but opted to retain both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

Struggles with an inconsistent and often-unpredictable car in 2019 have left Haas second-from-bottom in the standings this year, but Steiner stressed there has still been notable interest in joining the team despite its yo-yoing form.

“You have always struggles in racing, and I think people see that we address them and we work hard finding out what we are doing,” Steiner said.

“People are still interested in driving here, because they see as a team, we are not weak. We have got some issues, but you work hard on them. We’re very transparent about it, we’re not trying to find excuses for anything we do.

“A car like this where you can qualify sixth and then you cannot race is a very unusual thing. It is not a car which doesn’t go. It goes in some circumstances, and I’m pretty sure that we will find solutions for it, hopefully sooner rather than later. At least next year we need to have solutions for it.”

Haas is yet to confirm its line-up for the 2020 season, with question marks hanging over Romain Grosjean’s future with the team following a tricky start to the year that has seen him score just eight points.

However, Steiner said the team is still waiting for the first moves to be made in the driver market.

“It’s like every year, somewhere some domino has to fall and then all the other ones get in place, because there’s a lot of non-movement at the moment,” Steiner said.

“Everybody knows who is the first one to move here, and then the other ones will fall in place. Maybe nothing moves and then nothing falls in place, but at the moment, nobody has moved, and until something moves, there are a lot of things going on.

“There are quite a few drivers, their contract is up for renewal, and if they are all confirmed, it’s very difficult that a lot of things move.”