The Haas Formula 1 team says that signing an experienced driver is a must for its debut next year, as it begins narrowing down the possible candidates.
The American outfit’s close partnership with Ferrari has already meant the Maranello outfit’s test drivers, including Jean Eric Vergne and Esteban Gutierrez have already been linked with the outfit.
It is also understood that Nico Hulkenberg is a prime target, although the German could make the move to Ferrari if the outfit drops Kimi Raikkonen and cannot sign Valtteri Bottas.
With no shortage of drivers, Haas has said that it does not need to move quickly, and is far from closing down on its final options.
“We’ll talk to them in particular and we will see what works for us. We definitely want to have drivers who are currently competing on the starting grid, people with experience.”
Small teams boost
Haas’s relationship with Ferrari has already caused speculation, with the FIA having inspected it’s wind tunnel programme to make sure there was no breach of the regulations.
The new outfit is open in choosing to buy as much as it can from Ferrari, and Haas is convinced the way it is approaching F1 may set a trend for smaller outfits in the future.
“I believe this relationship we have established with Ferrari opens a new path for bigger teams to find value in the smaller teams on the grid,” he said.
Images courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari
