Haas are one of the smaller teams in Formula 1, without the financial muscle of outfits like Red Bull and Mercedes, which means that results are crucial to the team’s survival.
With that in mind, the American team need to build for the present, rather than plan for the future, hence Guenther Steiner’s recent decision to replace Mick Schumacher with Nico Hulkenberg.
The young German has undoubted potential but Is currently not achieving the results that his team would like, even costing the team an unnecessary amount of money with a spate of crashes this year.
Hulkenberg has been serving as a reserve driver since his release from Renault, most recently with Aston Martin, and will be over the moon to be given another chance in Formula 1 at 35-years-old.
READ: McLaren dismiss Mercedes engine concern
While it can never be nice to see another driver lose their place in the sport, Hulkenberg has insisted that he is not losing any sleep about replacing the 23-year-old.
“We’re all fighting for our careers. Many drivers have been replaced by another driver with more experience,” he explained.
“Whether it’s two years or ten is irrelevant. That’s how it is in Formula 1. When you race, you have to convince your team with your performance.
“And if you don’t deliver, the team will replace you. It’s no different with the engineers and all the other employees.”
Questions have been asked of Haas’ decision to replace a driver with such strong racing pedigree with an older driver who is coming to the end of his career.
Another talking point surrounding the move is Hulkenberg’s relationship with his new teammate Kevin Magnussen, who he previously refused to even talk to for five years.
The German has told reporters that he anticipates no problems with his Danish teammate, despite humorously being told “suck my balls” by the Haas driver.
“We broke the ice earlier this year,” Hulkenberg revealed.
“I greeted him with those exact works in Bahrain and we both had a good laugh. That’s long behind us.
READ: Mattia Binotto hits back at criticism with ‘proper job’ praise
“We’ve both gotten older, more mature, we’re both fathers now, we’re both coming back after a Formula 1 break, there are a few parallels. We can even chat about the best diaper brands!
“We respect each other, we know what’s expected of us – I don’t really expect any difficulties.”
Guenther Steiner will be hoping that his new driver pairing can help Haas move further up the grid, as he looks to bring the team further into midfield contention.