Haas boss Guenther Steiner says the team faces a “very difficult” decision regarding the identity of Kevin Magnussen’s 2020 Formula 1 team-mate.
The squad, ninth in this year’s Constructors’ Championship, has Magnussen under contract for 2020 but it has yet to determine who will partner the Dane.
The two candidates are incumbent Romain Grosjean, who has been with the team since its inception in 2016, and Nico Hulkenberg, who has lost his seat at Renault to Esteban Ocon.
“There is no desperation setting in,” said Steiner. “The market wasn’t moving a lot this year and there are not a lot of big movements going on.
“It is very difficult to decide what is better to do, therefore it takes a little bit longer, it’s not ‘is he good or is he not good’.
“We know Romain pretty well but I can see what Hulkenberg has done. But it’s about what is fitting better in the bigger scheme of things in the team going forwards.”
Steiner has previously outlined that he will meet with owner Gene Haas, with the pair hoping to make a decision prior to the end of the current month.
“We are not going to judge Romain on a race-by-race week,” said Steiner.
“For sure he needs to do a result, but he knows what helps and what doesn’t help.
“It’s more like where do we want to go with the team in the future? That’s the bigger decision.
“We know Romain pretty well, we know his strengths, and if he has one bad weekend it doesn’t mean the next one isn’t fantastic.
“We know that one but we need to know make the decision for the team where we want to go next. What is better, stay with what you know, or go for something new?
“That is the bigger decision to be made at the moment and that takes a little bit of time.”
