Haas Formula 1 Team are still on track to finalise its driver line-up this month, despite leading candidate Nico Hulkenberg resigning with Force India for another few years.
The American outfit had been in talks with Hulkenberg to lead its lineup in 2016, but the German thinks his career is better off if he stays where he is currently.
Haas are determined to secure an experienced driver for its lineup next season, which has left Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne as frontrunners at this stage.
Although no decision has been made as of yet, team principal Gunther Steiner said that a move was imminent to decide who to sign.
“We are still aiming for September,” Steiner told Motorsport.com. “Obviously it is a very important decision for us and we are not rushing into it, but we are still aiming for September.
“Everybody knows how the market looks like, with a lot of the dominoes having fallen by now with people staying put.
“So we are talking with all the people out there with experience and we just want to make the right decision.
“We are in a good position to know what we want and what we can afford, and it will fall in place.”
Although Haas has been linked with rookies, like American GP2 star Alexander Rossi, Steiner said that experienced F1 drivers are a must.
When asked if it would sign a rookie, he said: “That is not what we want to take. If a rookie comes in we give him little chance to succeed. What does he get out of it? We are rookies, so we need to have a known quantity in the end.”
Steiner also added that they are not waiting to see if Lotus hits trouble to potentially sign Romain Grosjean or Pastor Maldonado and said: “It is very difficult if you start to speculate on what is happening with other teams because we have no input, we cannot make changes,” he said.
“In the end we need to focus on ourselves and deal with what is real; not what could be. Otherwise in December it still could be happening, then it is next year. We need to deal with reality. We know what it is.”
