Haas F1 team principal Günther Steiner is adamant the US squad picked “the right guy” in securing the services of Romain Grosjean for its maiden campaign.
The Frenchman was confirmed as Haas’ first driver for 2016 during a press conference held on Tuesday at Kannapolis, North Carolina. Having repeatedly said that his team was looking for a seasoned pair of hands, Steiner is delighted to welcome Grosjean Stateside.
“We looked around a lot to find the right guy because we wanted somebody with experience but still hungry to do something, to go with us this long way,” said the ex-Jaguar and Red Bull man.
“I started talks with the management of Romain in Barcelona to see if he’s interested and, you know, we spoke to quite a few drivers, and in the end I spoke also with technical people, what they think about Romain, how he develops a car, because we have got a steep mountain to climb here, new team, all new team members, so we needed somebody who knows what he’s doing.
“In the end we found the right guy because he has so much ‘want to drive’ now, and he’s still aggressive or still wants it, but he’s not young [so] anymore that he’s inexperienced. We lose time by having accidents or doing rookie mistakes.
“I think we just picked the best one out there for what we are doing, and we focused on him and got him, and we are very happy and we are looking forward to working with him.”
29-year-old Grosjean has 78 F1 grands prix under his belt and 10 podium finishes to his name.
Although Haas has yet to reveal who will partner the soon-to-be ex-Lotus racer in 2016, Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutierrez is tipped as a prime candidate and the announcement could be made around the upcoming United States and Mexican races.
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