Haas appear to be in complete control of who they sign to partner Kevin Magnussen for 2023, with the Americans seemingly in no rush at all to decide whether Mick Schumacher will be replaced or not.
Despite admitting to RTL that Schumacher “had a good race at Monza”, the German driver appears likely to get the boot from the team, with his contract set to expire following the season finale.
There is a “50/50 chance” that the 23-year-old will be retained, with a number of high-profile drivers having been linked to the German’s seat.
Nico Hulkenberg, Antonio Giovinazzi and Daniel Ricciardo have all spoken to Steiner about a potential move to the American’s; however, Steiner doesn’t feel “any time pressure” to make a decision.
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“That’s where you put yourself under pressure, and we don’t need that,” Steiner told RTL.
“We’re just playing against ourselves. We don’t really have any time pressure. All the others have the time pressure but not us. That’s an advantage we don’t take away.”
One of the areas Steiner is currently debating is whether to go for experience over youth, with the likes of Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin having recently featured for Haas and arguably failed to deliver consistently.
With the likes of Hulkenberg, Giovinazzi and Ricciardo having been linked to the seat, it does appear that the team are taking the approach of having a deeply experienced line-up next season, with Magnussen being no newbie himself.
Steiner isn’t sure if it’s the right time for Haas to take a risk on another young driver, like Ferrari’s highly rated Robert Shwartzman, with there being the uncertainty on “how far he can take it”.
“How much risk do you want to take? You usually take more risk with a young driver, because you don’t know how far he can take it,” added the Haas boss.
The team really do look like they have no idea over who they want, with so many drivers having been linked, to the extent where Steiner has said that “most drivers with a superlicence” are being considered.
Outgoing McLaren driver Ricciardo is without a shadow of a doubt the most high-profile driver to be linked with the seat, with reports that the 33-year-old and the Haas boss had a phone conversation prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo appears to be in the middle of making a big decision himself following his imminent Woking departure, with the Australian having to decide whether to take a hiatus or not.
Steiner admitted that the Honey Badger has to “decide for himself” what his ambitions are for next season, with it making “little sense” trying to sign the Aussie should he decide to leave the series for a year.
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“Daniel has to decide for himself first in his situation what he is going to do,” continued Steiner.
“It makes little sense to talk him into doing something. He has to decide for himself.
“If he feels like it, he’ll certainly call; otherwise, he’ll probably say I’m taking a sabbatical or something else.”