Steiner spoke with no other driver than Magnussen

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says Kevin Magnussen was the first and only driver he contacted to replace Nikita Mazepin.

Haas' decision to immediately severe its ties with Mazepin and its Russian sponsor Uralkali following the onslaught of the conflict in Ukraine left the US outfit scrambling to find a replacement.

Although Steiner could rely on reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi to fill Mazepin's seat, the Italian's priority was to bring in an experienced driver to partner Mick Schumacher rather than another rookie.

"When what happened, happened, we parted company with Nikita, I was discussing with Gene who to put in the car, who’s available," said Steiner. "The same old story, ups and downs, and lefts and rights.

"Kevin’s name came up, and Gene said, ‘Do you think Kevin would come back?’ And I said ‘I have no idea, I don’t know, but I can call him up.’ And I called him up, and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested.’

Given that the two parties are well acquainted, striking a multi-year deal required little effort according to Steiner.

"I think you know a person pretty well after four years you work with him, and we didn't even have to discuss it," he said.

“We said, ‘We're going to do this,’ it was both ways ‘Yes, we are going to do this.’ And that was that. It was pretty simplistic.

“There was no negotiation or anything. It's like I know what he wants, I know what we want, and it's the same thing. We are here to get better again, and we need him to help us to do that, like he did last time."

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However, while there was perhaps little hesitation on Magnussen's side, the Dane was contracted this year to Chip Ganassi Racing and also to Peugeot to compete in sportscars in the US and in the WEC.

But Steiner was confident that Magnussen would be able to surmount those two hurdles and convince his employers to release him from his commitments, which they have done.

"I never thought it goes sideways," he said. "I always worked on it actively. I didn't speak with anybody else, with any other driver, I was just confident that it will happen.

"Obviously then there were a few difficulties. But when you do any deal at this level you know that it will be difficult, especially if we are involved, everything is more difficult!

"But then you just keep on working on it and solve the difficulties and find solutions. I mean, once we decided, I wouldn't say it went smooth, but there were a few hurdles in the way. But we just got them out of the way, the hurdles."

As Haas considered bringing back its former driver to the fray, Steiner felt that Magnussen's vast experience was an important asset that would help the team move forward.

"You always look what worked, and the position we found ourselves in, it was like, how we can bring the team forward the quickest way with the least amount of risk?" he explained.

"And that was Kevin, because we know him, he worked with us.

"Taking another rookie, we would face again the same problem, or the same issue, we wouldn't know where we are, because we have no reference.

"Maybe in the back of your head you think, let's go the safe route, and that's what we did.

"But still, it's not a mega safe. It's just like do something we know which works, and if you have got the opportunity to change that. And that's what we did."

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