The Haas F1 Team plans to announce its driver line-up for its debut season in September according to team principal Gunther Steiner.
The all-American outfit is preparing for its inaugural season, but with less than eight months until testing for 2016 kicks off, they’ve yet to sign a driver.
Steiner says they’re in no rush as they continue to assess the driver market, with negotiations planned for the end of the year before an announcement is made.
“Our plan is to be clear of talks by August/September and then announce them,” he confirmed to Autosport on Tuesday.
“The market is getting clearer and a lot of people are getting into contact with us now, because it’s both ways.
“We are in no hurry, because we have to see who is on the market, who is doing good and who wants to move.”
Whilst the team will have a European headquarters in the UK, the cars will be designed and constructed at its North Carolina base in the US.
Therefore the team is keen to hire an American driver, but it’s not necessarily a must according to Steiner, who is keen to see an experienced driver in the car to help with development.
“We are looking at American drivers, but being American doesn’t give you an automatic drive,” he added.
“We need to have a known factor in this team. The team is new, everything is new, so if you throw in new drivers – if we have a problem we don’t know where we got it wrong.”
WHO THEN?
At present, the only American with experience in modern F1 machinery is former Caterham and Marussia test driver Alexander Rossi.
Meanwhile, the team could look to drivers like Heikki Kovalainen, Kamui Kobayashi, Jean-Eric Vergne and Adrian Sutil, all of whom are without a drive whilst having the necessary experience to help develop a car.
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