Haas in a position of luxury: Steiner to choose drivers in 2023

A year ago, Haas was at the bottom of the world standings, but now the situation looks much rosier. The American team has drivers to choose from, but who is the right choice next to Kevin Magnussen in 2023? GPblog lists the options.

Mick Schumacher

The most logical candidate to have as Magnussen's teammate in 2023 is the Dane's current teammate. Mick Schumacher had a mediocre start to the 2022 F1 season, but has finally scored his first points in F1. He is 11-3 down in qualifying, lost an average of 0.383s to his teammate on Saturday and scored ten fewer points (22-12) in the first fourteen races. Schumacher, however, is still young (23 years old), is supported by Ferrari and, with his name, also brings with him some interesting sponsors.

Yet there are question marks surrounding the German, and not just because of his performance. Rumours about his seat have been flying around all season and he is said to be looking at other options. What is true remains to be seen, but he is not yet sure of his seat.

Daniel Ricciardo

With his dismissal from McLaren, Ricciardo is perhaps the most interesting driver available for 2023. The Australian is free to go where he wants. At 33, he is not worn out yet and with eight race wins to his name, many teams are interested in him. The big question, however, is whether Ricciardo is not already past his prime?

At Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo was considered one of the top drivers in F1 and at Renault he lived up to that status. At McLaren, however, things went wrong and his contract was cancelled for good reason. It is therefore understandable that a team like Haas hesitates before bringing in a driver for so much money.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Haas made the grand announcement that Giovinazzi would be allowed to drive in the first free practice session at the Grands Prix of Italy and America. F1 teams must give rookies a minimum of two practice sessions in 2022, but with his two years of F1 experience Giovinazzi does not meet that requirement at all. The fact that it is only offering a test to get the Ferrari junior used to the new generation of F1 cars also seems a bit over the top.

In that respect, the test is more in line with earlier rumours that Giovinazzi would be considered for Schumacher's F1 seat. Like Schumacher, Giovinazzi is also part of the Ferrari squad and so Haas would once again get a discount on the Italian marque's engine.

Other options for Haas

In addition to the three top candidates, there are of course some outsiders. Felipe Drugovich as leader in F2 is of course interesting for a team like Haas, but the American team can also look at IndyCar. Drivers like Alex Palou, Pato O'Ward and Colton Herta are often linked with F1. A switch to the American Haas should then always be a possibility, although Guenther Steiner has repeatedly indicated that the American nationality of drivers is not important to him.