The market has returned to animate the conversations in the paddock after returning from the summer break, with the attention suddenly shifting from one rider to another as the ripple effect proceeds. The announcement of Sebastian Vettel’s retirement brought Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin’s court, consequently leaving Alpine who, pending the ruling on the Piastri case, is looking around for the driver to partner with Esteban Ocon. One of the most talked about names for Enstone’s second seat is that of Mick Schumachercurrently standard bearer of the Hass team but with the contract expiring at the end of the season.
In the usual meeting with the journalists present in the paddock, in Zandvoort Guenther Steiner spoke about the Mick Schumacher case. The Haas Team Principal has specified how a possible stay in the German team will not depend on an imposition by Ferrari, with which there is a collaboration without however any implication on the choice of seats: “I don’t know what contract Mick has with Ferrari and I don’t want to know. They don’t make decisions for us, because you can’t make them in general for other people. If you force someone sometimes you don’t get the most out of them, it’s counterproductive. So let’s work together to try to find the best solution for us and for Ferrari. If we can’t find it, we’ll do something different. However, it is not a question of asking the other what to do or what to give. In a collaboration we try to find the best compromise for both parties ”.
Steiner then confirmed the arrival of Gene Haas on the circuit to follow the Dutch Grand Prix live, also an opportunity to discuss the market: “With Gene we talk about the riders, but this is neither the beginning nor the end of the process. We discussed what to do, not so much which driver to choose, but we decided to wait, we are in no hurry. Let’s monitor the situation with Mick and see what happens. We are not in a hurry, why should we decide now with the risk of later discovering that we have made the wrong choice? ”. Haas therefore shows a wait-and-see approach, opening up to any opportunity. The final choice must be carefully weighed according to the Team Principal and will not be the result of personal preferences: “Obviously I have my opinions, but I have to be clear with myself about who is the best for the team and not who I want as a person, that’s the most important thing. Again, this comes up in dialogue about what you want to do, whether to take risks or play it safe. This will be the deciding factor, not who I prefer. […] We are trying to grow the team. It is a question of deciding what is best, whether a fast driver or a rather solid rider who brings a lot of things with him ”.
The desire to wait for new opportunities from the market is also the result of the awareness of having a relatively competitive car in their hands compared to the center-group, which fuels the interest of the drivers in a seat at Haas: “Our seat is now more coveted than last year. In 2020, when I let Kevin and Romain leave, I was the first to say that maybe they didn’t want to stay here, because we had had a disappointing year. I think the car is better now and that we will improve further over time. We are obviously a much more interesting opportunity for a rider, because he can show what he is capable of. Last year, being aware that the car was in a worse position, we knew it was the perfect opportunity for two rookies to gain experience in Formula 1 without too much pressure. We still have a long way to go in terms of competitiveness, but we are certainly in a better position ”. A prolonged wait, however, risks depriving the team of any opportunities rather than procuring new ones, but this does not scare Gunther Steiner: “We are aware that we are taking a risk, but maybe the opportunity is greater than the risk“.
The number one of the Haas house finally explained the dynamics and reasons that led to insuring ad Antonio Giovinazzi a free practice session on board the VF-22 in Monza: “That comes from a conversation I had with Mattia [Binotto] two weeks before the break. He asked me what I thought about getting Antonio to sit in a Formula 1 car again. He is their reserve driver, as well as our second when Pietro [Fittipaldi] he is not there, because he does not come to all races, since he races with the Sport GTs. Then I also realized that we’ve never had anyone else in our car other than Mick or Kevin, so it would be nice to have someone else’s opinion on what the car is like, as well as see what other drivers can do with our car. It was a pretty quick decision. You give up some time with our current drivers, but then you earn more for the team in terms of impressions from someone who has never driven the car before. It is an opportunity that arose because Mattia asked for it, I didn’t do itand it seemed like the right thing to do “concluded Steiner.
#Steiner #market #Ferrari #doesnt #decide #FormulaPassion.it