Sergio Perez to Haas F1 Team, Why Not?

Somewhat buried below the surface of all the talk this weekend in Mugello, Italy, about Sebastian Vettel replacing Sergio Perez at the Racing Point Formula 1 team for 2021 was the revelation that Haas F1 could actually be the next team to pull the trigger on a lineup change.

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner inched closer to that line without going over it during Friday’s team representatives’ media availability ahead of this weekend’s F1 Tuscany Grand Prix.

While Steiner didn’t go so far to say that a driver change is happening, he did admit that the team is window shopping. And Sergio Perez looks pretty shiny in the window right now.

“He’s a good racer but we are just looking,” Steiner said. “There are a lot of candidates out there at the moment which we are talking with, which we are thinking about and we just need to come up with a decision. For a team, it’s quite good to be in the market because you have got a lot of things which you can pick up.

“We are in no rush to do anything and we just think it through, we come to a conclusion with an answer when we are ready.”

One thing that is pretty obvious. The current lineup is not working. Romain Grosjean, who has been with Haas since its first F1 race in 2016, and Kevin Magnussen, who has been with Haas since 2017, haven’t exactly been showing up growing larger in the leaders’ rear view mirrors.

New free agent Perez has scored more points by himself this season (and he missed two races after testing positive for coronavirus) than Haas drivers Grosjean and Magnussen have scored the last two years combined.

And, sure, Haas seemingly also has been dragged own by whatever ills have fallen upon technical partner Ferrari. In 2019, however, Ferrari was second in the F1 Constructors’ Championship and Haas a dismal ninth with similar Ferrari power.

The nearly five-year-old Haas team is still seeking its first podium finish. The team showed promise as recently as 2018 when it finished fifth in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. That turned out to be a blip on the radar as the team fell right back to one step from the series basement in 2019.

This year, the team has scored just one point (OK, technically two points, but the team was hit with a penalty for giving instructions to driver Magnussen that cost the team one point) and is doing everything it can to hold off last-pace Williams. That’s not the kind of performance team owner Gene Haas was expecting when he started his F1 journey.

Haas is co-owner, along with Tony Stewart, one of the most successful NASCAR teams going. Haas is a winner, and Steiner—the only team principal the F1 team has known—does not sound like a leader conceding that Haas will forever be a backmarker in Formula 1.

Hence, the sudden interest in Sergio Perez is justified and should get Haas fans excited.

“I don’t want to go through all the criterias,” Steiner said. “But it needs to be a package, and what we need to see, how do we want to… what do we want to do in the future? How it is best of the team? We’re not just thinking about next year.

“Then, if you’re short on thinking, it is pretty easy: you try to get the fastest guy as quick as possible in. But we are thinking about the next five years after we have signed our Concorde Agreement now. So, we want to build up again, that we are getting back to the results that we had in 2018. That takes a bit more time to think it through: financially, talent, it’s a lot of things coming into play. And that is where we are. As I said, we are in no hurry.”

On the other hand, team owner Gene Haas, at 67, isn’t getting any younger.

From the outside, the case for bringing in Perez is easy to make, especially over Grosjean. If Haas is looking at another five-year plan, Perez, 30, is four years younger than Grosjean.

If Haas wants a driver used to scoring points, Perez has scored in the points in his last 14 starts. Grosjean hasn’t scored in his last 18.

If Haas wants someone who can get to the podium, Perez has five podiums since 2013, Grosjean has one.

If sponsorship is an issue, then take the guy who brings the most money, but don’t tease the fans with talk of talent evaluation being a big deal. Hopefully, talent and track record still mean something to a team that says it wants to be competitive.

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