Haas F1's Guenther Steiner has confirmed that the American outfit will not run Antonio Giovinazzi as its third driver for 2018.
Giovinazzi tested for Haas throughout 2017 and took part in seven FP1 sessions over the course of the year, as well as standing in for an injured Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber for the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix at the start of the season.
Despite Haas' connections to Ferrari and the Scuderia requesting the team to run their junior driver in 2018, Steiner was resolute and was clear that Giovinazzi would not be part of the team's agenda for next season.
"I don't think it helped us or our drivers," Steiner told Denmark's Ekstra Bladet newspaper.
"I cannot say how negative it was, but it was not positive. We will see what we are doing next year, but we have not talked about it yet."
Giovinazzi was a candidate for a drive with Sauber next season having raced for the team earlier in 2017, however, lost out on the seat to his fellow Ferrari Academy Driver and reigning Formula 2 champion, Charles Leclerc.
Ferrari approached Haas earlier in 2017 hoping for Giovinazzi to secure a race seat in Formula 1. The team, however, rejected the request, re-signing Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen and maintaining its current driver lineup for a second consecutive season.
Currently, Giovinazzi has six practice outings scheduled for 2018 which he will run with Sauber who will be backed by Alfa Romeo next season.
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