Guenther Steiner is among one of the most interesting personalities in Formula 1. The Haas team principal has taken big steps this year to improve the American constructors. However, he finds himself in an unwanted contract fiasco.

After Daniel Ricciardo announced his departure from McLaren, Mick Schumacher has been a subject of the ongoing driver roulette rumors to take over the Alpine seat.

Guenther gave Mick his big break in 2020 after he let go of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. The German driver’s contract runs up at the end of this season. There is a growing interest from Alpine for Mick to replace their outgoing driver, Fernando Alonso.

In an interview, Steiner was asked when he was going to decide his driver’s lineup for next season. The Haas team principal said, “We’re gonna wait, I mean, we’re taking it calmly because if I would follow all the rumors around, we’d need to open up a second team because we signed everybody!” 

He continued, “I don’t know about it, I should know about it. No, but seriously speaking we wait a little bit,” as he explained how he wants the rumor mill to calm down a little bit before making any major decisions.

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Haas has been a revelation this season. Kevin Magnussen finished P5 in the first race of the season to the relief of Guenther, who failed to score a single point last year. They are currently 7th in the constructors’ championship.

Haas keeping their options open, says Steiner

Like any good leader, Guenther Steiner is waiting for the storm to pass before deciding on next year’s driver pairing. He believes there are a lot of rumors out there after the apparent announcement made by Ricciardo. He also acknowledged that Mick Schumacher is still in contention for the 2023 seat as he praised some of his recent performances before the break.

“We all know who is on the market, and if you are now asking me for the next 15 minutes ‘have you spoken to this and this guy?’, either I say no or yes,” Steiner said.

“I speak with everybody. We see what we’re going to do. Everybody assumes Mick is not here anymore next year, also that is not true. Everything is open still.”

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Haas owner Gene Haas is also going to fly down to attend the next two races in Zandvoort and Monza. This gives them the opportunity to discuss potential drivers for the next season and how they can improve on their impressive season so far.

Haas also announced Antonio Giovinazzi is set to feature for them in two practice sessions in races between now and the end of the season. Whether they retain Mick Schumacher for next year or bring in a new face, it will be interesting to see which driver gets the Haas seat next year.