Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner has predicted that a number of Formula 1 driver line-up changes for 2025 could be finalised in the early stages of the upcoming campaign.
The confirmation that Logan Sargeant will retain his Williams seat means the whole grid will remain unchanged heading into a new season for the first time in Formula 1 history.
Although Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are both expected to extend their contracts at the Scuderia, the future of 13 drivers remains uncertain beyond 2024.
McLaren and Mercedes will also retain their current driver pairings into at least 2025, but it is yet to be determined who will partner Max Verstappen in the coveted second Red Bull seat beyond the 2024 campaign.
Having recently rejected a return to fielding two rookies in his team, Steiner has suggested that it won’t take long for the F1 paddock to enter “silly season” as teams try and finalise long-term plans.
“We all know what is happening with the driver market,” said Steiner whose current lineup of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg will both see their contracts expire at the end of next year.
“In 2025, it opens up. At some stage, we will have new drivers coming into Formula 1 because some are getting on in their careers so you’re always thinking and seeing what is happening. You keep an eye on it but it’s too early to make decisions.
“I think next year, a lot of people will start moving pretty early in the season to make sure that for 2025 they’re in a good place.
“If you move too early, the price goes up. If you move late, maybe there’s nothing left. There’s always this balance [that’s needed].”
Having endured an expensive and unfruitful spell with his previous two F1 rookies, Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, the Haas boss could be forced to consider fielding an inexperienced driver come 2025.
Haas’ line-up is the highest average age between team-mates on the grid while Hulkenberg has been touted as a candidate for Audi’s factory team come 2026.
“It was a hardline position at that stage,” said Steiner against the idea of a return to a rookie pairing. “But then the choice will be taken off you because, as I said before, in ’25 there will be some drivers finishing their career because they’re getting on in age.
“You need to consider ‘Is [hiring a rookie] the ideal situation? No’. But what is the negative, and what is the positive?
“At some stage, you don’t have any choice, and then you just try to do the best you can.”
In 2023, the team twice fielded Ferrari Academy prospect Oliver Bearman in FP1 sessions in Mexico and Abu Dhabi with Director of Engineering Ayao Komatsu labelling the Briton “very impressive”.
“We will be older than we were last year, so obviously, we will be better prepared,” Steiner said of the potential of fielding another rookie in the coming years.
“But as I said before, at some stage, you will not have a choice with what you do.”
