Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is fully expecting early moves to be made in what will be a wide-open F1 driver transfer market in 2024.
For the first time in F1 history, with Williams recently retaining Logan Sargeant to complete next year’s line-up, the grid is unchanged from one season to the next.
From 2024 into 2025, however, there could be major changes as only five drivers have a guaranteed contract beyond next year – Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
It is widely expected Ferrari will retain Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, leaving 13 seats available, with the most high-profile being who will partner Verstappen in ’25.
Although advantageous to make an early move, Steiner knows that comes with a price tag, meaning it may be better to wait, albeit with the flip side being quality drivers will be in short supply.
“We all know what is happening with the driver market,” said Steiner, whose drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will be out of contract at the end of next season. “In 2025 it opens up.
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“At some stage, we will have new drivers coming into Formula 1 because some are getting on in their careers.
“So you’re always thinking and seeing what is happening. You keep an eye on it but it’s too early to make decisions.
“I think next year, a lot of people will start moving pretty early in the season to make sure that for ’25 they’re in a good place.”
Getting the timing right will prove difficult, though. Steiner added: “If you move too early, the price goes up; if you move late, maybe there’s nothing left. There’s always this balance to what you want to do.”
The Italian, meanwhile, has rowed back on his remark that he was “done with rookies” after Haas failed to score a point in 2021 with inexperienced duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin at the helm.
Steiner later explained that it was difficult to evaluate a rookie, or “take big risks” due to their lack of testing going into an F1 campaign.
Asked whether he had changed his position, he said: “It was a hardline position at that stage.
“But then the choice will be taken off you because, as I said before, in ’25 there will be some drivers finishing their career because they’re getting on in age.
“You need to consider ‘Is it (hiring a rookie) the ideal situation? No’. But what is the negative, and what is the positive?
“At some stage, you don’t have any choice, and then you just try to do the best you can.”
Steiner at least feels that if he again signs a rookie for 2025, the team will at least be in a better position to nurture and develop than was the case two years ago.
“We will be older than we were last year, so obviously, we will be better prepared,” assessed Steiner.
“But as I said before, at some stage, you will not have a choice with what you do.”
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