Haas F1 is still to officially replace Nikita Mazepin following the departure of the latter and his sponsor Uralkali. Pietro Fittipaldi will drive the Haas VF-22 alongside Mick Schumacher in Bahrain for winter testing, but the American team wants a more experienced starter.
Antonio Giovinazzi’s name was the first to come out, with the partnership with Ferrari making an ideal gateway for the Italian. But since then, other profiles have been added to the list and seem to be ahead of the former Alfa Romeo F1 driver.
The last name to be added probably went to the top of the pile on Günther Steiner’s desk, since Haas contacted his former pilot, Kevin Magnussen. The Dane is currently engaged in IMSA with Chip Ganassi Racing and is scheduled to compete in the WEC season with Peugeot from this summer.
Magnussen has the experience that Haas F1 would need, and knows the inner workings of the team inside out, making him an ideal candidate. The third candidate would be Nico Hülkenberg, who has reportedly started gathering budget to come to Haas.
Ralf Schumacher hopes for an experienced teammate for Mick
Ralf Schumacher is watching the situation from afar and waiting to see who will be partnered with his nephew, Mick Schumacher. The former pilot, however, doubts that the name of Hülkenberg is really considered by Steiner.
“Haas says they have several candidates, but it seems to me that some of them are not entirely relevant” note Schumacher. “For example, I can’t imagine Günther Steiner resuming his old contacts with Nico Hülkenberg and bringing a second German into the team.”
“I can only wish that Mick has a strong teammate this year to take the next step in his career with. I hope it’s someone he can learn a lot from. It would be great if it was Oscar Piastri.”
Piastri is not a candidate for this seat since Alpine F1 will not make him join the competition. Ralf Schumacher also has a thought for Mazepin: “It’s not his fault at all and I even feel sorry for him, although I’m not his biggest supporter. But you don’t wish such a thing on any driver.”
Nikolai Vetrov, Sergey Sirotkin’s manager, went up against Haas, judging that Mazepin and Uralkali had almost done charity by going to the team: “No one wanted to join this team. Then they went there for some reason, Haas took the money and now they’re throwing them away.”