Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has dropped a very broad hint that he is set to keep faith with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg for the 2024 F1 season.
Following a year on the sidelines, after Steiner opted not to renew Magnussen’s contract at the end of 2020, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of last season and the subsequent axing of Nikita Mazepin re-opened the door for the 30-year-old.
Magnussen signed a multi-year deal, effectively guaranteed for two years, with an option open on either side to continue for a third in 2024.
As for Hulkenberg, after cameo appearances for Racing Point in 2020 and Aston Martin in 2022, the 35-year-old replaced Mick Schumacher for this season, ending four years without a full-time drive.
Whilst Haas has not improved this year as much as it would have hoped, Steiner looks set to take up the option with Magnussen and again partner him with Hulkenberg for next year.
“Driver market-wise, I think at the moment we are pretty happy with what we have got,” said Steiner, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
“Obviously, we want to announce our drivers as soon as possible so we don’t have to hang around like last year – a long time, and telling you guys ‘It’ll be the next race’, and then it gets boring.”
Bizarrely, perhaps misunderstanding the question, Steiner also voiced his thoughts on Ferrari’s driver line-up of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, doing so given his team’s links with the Scuderia.
Speculation has been rife regarding the future of the two drivers, who are both contracted to Ferrari through to the end of next year.
New team principal Fred Vasseur has made clear so far that he is keen to resolve the issues with the SF-23 initially before then sitting down with Leclerc and Sainz to discuss potential contract extensions.
Shedding a small shaft of light on the situation, Steiner added: “On the Ferrari side, in the short to mid-term, they’re stable, and there’s no point to change.
“Just because you’ve a year like this, it doesn’t mean that you immediately have to jump to someone else.”
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