Guenther Steiner dismisses rookie option: I want drivers ‘who know what to do’

Michelle Foster
Guenther Steiner shares a joke with Mick Schumacher. Silverstone July 2022.

Guenther Steiner shares a joke with Mick Schumacher on the pit wall. Silverstone July 2022.

Swapping out his rookies one by one for experienced drivers, Guenther Steiner says right now he wouldn’t take a risk on a rookie driver even if it meant he might find the “ultimate talent”.

Haas put two rookies in the car in 2021, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, with the intention of giving them a year at the back of the field with the hope of a mid-season challenge the next season.

But it was not to be. The team said goodbye to Mazepin at the start of 2022’s pre-season testing and brought in Kevin Magnussen as his replacement, while nine months later they announced Schumacher’s exit with Nico Hulkenberg signed for the 2023 season.

Schumacher’s departure came in the wake of one too many crashes for the Haas team bosses, the German not able to balance that with points-scoring results.

As such Steiner says he is done with rookies for now, he wants drivers who “know what to do”.

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“At the moment, I have no appetite for a rookie,” the team boss told RacingNews365.com. “If you ask me now, we’ll be taking experienced [drivers].

“With rookies, there’s always a risk and there is an opportunity that you’ll find the ultimate talent, but at the moment, for us as a team, what we need is experienced drivers to bring the team forward because it still needs development.

“We are still the youngest team in F1, and the others are getting better and better, and we need to follow and even catch up.

“The best way to catch up is with people who know what to do – and that is drivers which have done it [in the midfield] like Nico.

“He has done it in more than one team which were running in the midfield, and we are trying to get his experience with him giving advice.”

Haas should stick with Hulk and K-Mag for 2024

Although Steiner has revealed Haas hadn’t “talked about drivers or extensions at the moment”, early-season form says the team boss should stick with Hulkenberg.

Back on the grid and determined to prove he deserves his place, the German has twice broken into the top ten in qualifying and last time out in Australia was P7.

So far this season he’s shown better pace than last year’s star Haas driver, Magnussen.

The team boss, though, is refusing to close the door on Daniel Ricciardo and recently spoke with him, although not about F1, on the plane to Australia.

He added: “Daniel wanted to take a year out and then see what he wants to do next. I think when he is ready, he will phone people up and say, ‘I am ready again’.”

But in Hulkenberg and Magnussen Haas already have two drivers who they know for sure are committed.

Ricciardo walked away from F1 last season as he wasn’t, he needed a break. Oh he also didn’t want to race for Haas in the midfield, he had loftier ambitions.

In their current line-up there are two drivers who just want to race, yes they want to do well, score points, reach the podium, but while they strive for that, they’re also just enjoying racing in Formula 1.