Guenther Steiner says bringing in Sergio Pérez to the Haas F1 Team for 2021 is not currently as clear cut as it appears to be, with the team continuing to analyse what its best driver line-up for next season could be.
Pérez will leave the BWT Racing Point Formula One Team at the end of this season after the Silverstone-based team opted to replace him with four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel for 2021, and wherever he goes, he will have substantial backing from his Mexican homeland.
Current Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are both out of contract after the end of the current year, although both are thought to still be in contention for next year, as well as a whole host of other available drivers including the likes of Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg.
However, Steiner, the Team Principal at Haas, says that despite Pérez being a good driver, the decision to who drives for them from next season has yet to be made, and there are a lot of different things they will be looking at to ensure they have the best possible duo in the team in 2021.
“There is nothing at the moment which is a no-brainer, because there are so many options,” said Steiner to Motorsport.com. “You need to make the best decision for the team mid to long-term, not only the immediate.
“Because immediately, we don’t have an issue, but we need to see where we want to go in mid to long-term, because that is where the opportunity is in my opinion. We need to fix that one.
“It’s not that we just need some quick cash for next year. We’re actually fine with that. It’s a mid to long-term: how can we get better? How can we get the best out of the team? How can we get back to our performance of 2018 and better?
“I think there is more opportunity now with the budget cap coming from next year onwards and the new regulations from 2022.
“For sure, Checo is a good driver, I would never doubt him. But is he the best for the mid to long term? I don’t know. That is what we are discussing, so therefore it is not such a no brainer as it seems to be.”
