Formula 1: Guenther Steiner discusses Ricciardo, Hulkenberg & Schumacher amid '23 speculation

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By George Dagless

Published Sep 23, 2022

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has given his thoughts on several drivers being linked with their vacant 2023 seat

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 25: Guenther Steiner, team principal of Haas leaves the paddock after the drivers and team principals met after practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 25, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has given his thoughts on several drivers being linked with their vacant 2023 seat.

As things stand, Kevin Magnussen is their only confirmed driver for next season, with a number of names being touted as potential team-mates for the Danish driver.

Indeed, Mick Schumacher is currently the driver in the opposite garage but his contract with the team is up at the end of the campaign, and Steiner has described it as '50/50' as to whether Mick sticks around for 2023.

Speaking in an interview with RTL, Steiner discussed a number of Haas' potential options for the drive next year, and said that there's no rush to make decision on Schumacher or anyone else:

“You put yourself under pressure and we don’t need that, we’re only playing against ourselves. We don’t actually have any time pressure at all, everyone else has time pressure, but we don’t.

“That’s an advantage that we don’t want to take away from us.”

READ MORE: F1 2023 CALENDAR CONFIRMED

Whilst Steiner says Haas are in no rush to make a decision, then, he also discussed Daniel Ricciardo's situation, with the Aussie currently heading out of F1 at the end of the year after he and McLaren agreed to call it quits

Ricciardo has been linked with a move to Haas, but Steiner says he'll wait to see if Daniel is interested in a move before making a serious play to sign him:

“In his situation, Daniel first has to decide for himself what to do. It makes little sense to persuade him to do something, he has to decide for himself.

“If he feels like it, he’ll definitely call, otherwise he’ll probably say I’m taking a sabbatical or something else.”

Nico Hulkenberg

Finally, Nico Hulkenberg is one driver that has been heavily linked with taking over from Schumacher at Haas, with it thought that he and Steiner already enjoy a positive relationship and that the team would like to add another experienced driver to their line-up.

'The Hulk' and Magnussen have had their differences in the past, though, with 2017 in Hungary seeing the Dane tell the German what he could do in no uncertain terms after they'd had an incident.

That's water under the bridge now, though, with both seemingly putting that behind them, having spoke together at the start of this year and joked about it, and Steiner said that he felt 'fans would love it' if the pair joined forces next season.