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Haas could pinch a Ferrari driver should they need someone

Haas could pinch a Ferrari driver should they need someone

09-03-2019 09:02

Guenther Steiner has suggested he may well ask Ferrari for a reserve driver should either Kevin Magnussen or Romain Grosjean be unavailable for a Grand Prix.

Pietro Fittipaldi, son of Emerson Fittipaldi, is Haas' current reserve driver, but he doesn't hold enough points on his superlicence to compete in a Formula 1 race. In the case of an emergency, Steiner says he'll go to Ferrari for options.

"I think Ferrari will take somebody to the racetrack. I think Ferrari for sure is getting a third driver. But there is always someone around," Steiner told Racefans.

Pascal Wehrlein and Brendon Hartley both take turns in the Ferrari simulator seat. They'll both be keen to build on their experience already attained.

Last season, Grosjean reached a peak of 10 penalty points and hung dangerously from a one-race ban. He was just two points away. Should either driver need replacing, Fittipaldi wouldn't be the man. Despite winning the Formula V8 3.5 championship in 2017, a broken leg the following year hampered his chances.

He has been in the Haas already this season during testing at Barcelona. But Steiner confirms he's just not ready.

“He needs points. That’s the difficulty for guys like him, to get the points," Steiner added.

"We have Pietro full-time there. And therefore he needs to drive so he can correlate the simulator with the car.

“So he’s not only a guest driver in testing, he’s actually doing a job and he’s doing a good job. We saw that last week when he had to jump into the car out of the blue. And he was ready for it, did a good job. I’m very, very happy with him.”