Haas team principal Gunther Steiner believes Formula 1 teams now apply more caution when taking on a rookie driver due to the limits on testing.
Haas has made a notable change to its driver line-up for next year as it shifts its policy of hiring young talent to favour experience, with veterans Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg driving for the American-owned outfit.
The complete U-turn comes after it ran an all-rookie line-up in 2021 of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, with Haas feeling signing two young drivers would benefit the team in the long term.
But both Mazepin and Schumacher have been cast aside to make way for Hulkenberg and Magnussen, who have a combined 322 grand prix starts between them.
Schumacher, who becomes a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2023, argued rookies cannot get up to speed in F1 as quickly because of the lack of testing – a theory Steiner agrees with.
“I think he’s right,” he said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “In racing, two years is a pretty good time, but there’s nothing before.
“He jumped straight from F2 to F1 in competition, because there is no testing. We reverted back to get an experienced driver that wasn’t in a car for three years, not full-time, because the young drivers, you cannot really evaluate or you take big risks.
“I mean McLaren takes on [Oscar] Piastri, but in the end, nobody knows how good he will be in an F1 car. He was very good in F3 and F2, but it’s still a big step to F1.
“Obviously I think it is a little bit, I wouldn’t say a problem, but it’s one of those things, how much risk do you want to take to get a rookie in the car.”
Despite Haas going back on its decision to value youth over experience, Steiner stressed the team did not make a mistake in going for two rookies in 2021.
“No, no. Absolutely not,” Steiner said. “And I’ll explain why, because two years ago we were in a different position, and now we are in a different position again.
“I think we’re in a lot better position now in Formula 1 in general than two years ago when we had to find solutions to keep on going.”
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