Grosjean’s points won’t affect driver decision - Steiner

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says Romain Grosjean’s points in Sunday’s Eifel Grand Prix will not sway the team's decision regarding its 2021 driver line-up.

Grosjean and teammate Kevin Magnussen are both out of contract at the end of the season, and Haas is evaluating its options for next year and beyond. Steiner wants to get a line-up in place that will continue with the team through to the new regulations in 2022, and as a result says Grosjean’s strong performance to finish ninth in the Nurburgring is not going to have a major bearing on the final call.

“We cannot be this emotional that we can go from race to race and decide on and off,” Steiner said. “That needs to be a decision for the long term, not for the short term, and I don’t fall into that trap. I stay very stable on that one -- to evaluate what I’ve always said we want to evaluate, which is how we think the team can perform best with which drivers in the next two, three or four years.”

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Steiner says the chances of Haas making an announcement ahead of next weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix are very slim, but he is enjoying the gap between races with a positive atmosphere after the team scored for only the second time this season.

"It’s not only important for the points in the standings because we move one point closer to Alfa Romeo but it’s mainly for everybody a good feeling, how it feels to get them. It keeps everybody motivated and I think they all did a good job over the weekend.

“Maybe not running on Friday was a help; I’m very conscious that some of the people dropped out in front of us that normally would be in front of us but we were fighting with the people we can fight. It feels great, I must admit and is very important, not only for the position in the championship but also the morale of the people. They work week-in, week-out, just trying to get a little bit of happiness out of the weekend -- and we got some happiness.”