Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says that Callum Ilott is not currently in consideration for a 2021 Formula 1 seat at the outfit.
Ferrari-backed Ilott will make his free practice debut this weekend at the Nurburgring for the American squad, stepping in for Romain Grosjean.
21-year-old Ilott is currently chasing the 2020 Formula 2 title in a battle with fellow Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher, who will also make his FP1 debut on Friday, across at Alfa Romeo.
Haas is yet to confirm who will fill its seats in 2021, with multiple names being linked – however Steiner asserts that Ilott is not one of them.
“He’s not on the list because he’s a Ferrari driver and he’s their driver, so therefore he’s not on the list,” Steiner said.
“I don’t know what they are doing with him, what their plans are for him so at the moment he’s not on the list.
“I have a lot of respect for him because he’s second in the F2 championship, which means he’s pretty good.
“Being very honest he’s not on the list now, but maybe he’s on the list tomorrow. But it will not depending on the FP1 result.
“For sure if he does one thing that he shouldn’t be doing then he wouldn’t be on the list anymore, like if he crashes the car.”
Ferrari, who supplies engines to Haas and Alfa Romeo, have a voice in who sits in one of the Alfa Romeo seats, with Antonio Giovinazzi currently at the team through the Maranello squad.
The Ferrari Driver Academy also has Robert Shwartzman signed, who won the 2019 Formula 3 Championship and has also been linked to a 2020 F1 seat amid a respectable F2 campaign this year.
Steiner admits that Haas may be interested in talking to Ferrari if it wanted to take on a young driver going forward due to its current crop of talent.
“They are in the fortunate position to have three good ones,” Steiner said. “For sure they put themselves in that position by investing in the right guys.
“For sure being aligned in the engine with them, if you want young drivers, for sure we will talk with them first.
“But they put themselves in that position, there is nothing that goes beyond the collaboration on the engine side.
“Also this in F2 there are other good drivers and teams have the same issue of where to put the people.
“I think Ferrari has got that issue because they have got three very good ones, all of which are in the top five in F2. I don’t know how they are going to solve that problem but thank god it’s not my problem.”
Discussion about this post