Steiner rules out Herta for 2021 Haas F1 seat

IndyCar youngster Colton Herta is not a candidate for a 2021 F1 seat with Haas, team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed to crash.net.

Despite revealing Haas is open to running an all-rookie line-up as part of its realigned vision to capitalize on the incoming regulation overhaul in 2022, Steiner said that Herta – who is the youngest-ever IndyCar race winner – is not among the candidates it is considering.

In the past Steiner has made no bones about the fact that he does not rate American drivers, and he is the reason the only American team in F1 will never consider am American driver as long as he is running the team

“I think Colton Herta is doing very well,” Steiner replied when asked by Crash.net if Herta was an option for Haas. “He’s one of the drivers when I watch IndyCar and I’m back in the States, actually. I think he’s doing a great job there.

“I haven’t spoken to him, so we stop this speculation. We have had to stop speculation lately. But I respect a lot what he does. He’s very young, I think he’s got a great future but I think he’s pretty happy where he is at the moment, and therefore we didn’t talk to him.

“I know that he’s [been] based in Europe before and all that stuff but he’s in his second season in IndyCar, and he’s with a good team there and the investors, I think they want to see him there.

“I haven’t spoken with him, but I have the utmost respect for him, what he’s doing there. But he will not be in our car next year.”