F1 News
Haas extended Grosjean "because it feels it has not been fair"
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
In the wake of the somewhat surprising announcement that Haas F1 would be extending the contract of Romain Grosjean until the end of 2020, popular Formula 1 blogger Joe Saward thinks the team's poor performance in 2019 could have been a big reason, as it wouldn't have been "fair" to let either driver go after a poor year for the team.
The Frenchman has scored just eight points this F1 season compared to teammate Kevin Magnussen's 18, although the two have both not been scoring many points recently. Haas' race pace now famously drops off dramatically compared to their qualifying pace, with both drivers having often not scored points after qualifying in the top ten.
Grosjean particularly hasn't been on form, however, with his spin at Monza being the latest example of the veteran making a vital mistake from a promising position. Many thought Nico Hülkenberg would be replacing Grosjean, as the German is now without a seat at Renault with Esteban Ocon replacing the one-time pole sitter.
"That is a surprise as Grosjean's place seemed very uncertain, given that he has scored only eight points compared to Magnussen's 18," Saward writes in his column on MotorsportWeek.com
"Neither is a stellar result but the team must take much of the blame for this as its performance in races has been pretty poor this year. One presumes that this is why the team has chosen this path because it feels that it has not been fair to the drivers."
Saward's focus quickly shifted for the snubbed Hülkenberg, who will likely disappear from the F1 grid in 2020 now, as he explains.
"One must presume from this that the problem is not one of whether or not he is qualified for the job, but rather that the two parties did not agree on money or that The Hulk did not feel that it was the right place for him to be."
With pretty much every seat on the grid taken, Williams might be the Le Mans winner's only option. Although, they might have somebody lined up to replace Robert Kubica already.
"If, as expected, there is no room at Sauber (Alfa Romeo), then the only possibility for him would be Williams, where he might replace Robert Kubica.
"However, this is unlikely to be a move that would be financially rewarding for the team as George Russell comes with backing from Mercedes and Kubica has a big wedge of wonga behind him.
"It is thought that Nicholas Latifi might be a good bet for 2020 as he has done pretty well in Formula 2 and has money behind him. Perhaps so. We will see."