Plenty of driver interest in Haas, says team principal Guenther Steiner

Formula One's driver market is waiting for Ferrari and Renault to make the first moves, but Haas are also attracting plenty of interest, team principal Guenther Steiner told reporters on Thursday.

“I wouldn't say we are shopping around. A lot of people are shopping with us,” he told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix. “There are people asking, for obvious reasons. They want to see what we are doing.”

Steiner said the US-owned team, who currently have Denmark's Kevin Magnussen and Frenchman Romain Grosjean as their drivers, planned to decide after the August holiday on their 2019 lineup. It would be a surprise if Magnussen did not stay, given his strong showing with six scoring finishes, but Grosjean's future appears uncertain with points in only two races – albeit one of them a fourth place – and plenty of costly crashes.

Haas, who use Ferrari engines and are closely aligned with the Italian team, are sixth in the standings and level on points with fifth-placed Force India. They have scored points in the last four races.

Ferrari are mulling whether to replace 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen with Sauber's Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc, while Renault are tipped to take Frenchman Esteban Ocon from Force India.

That would trigger a chain reaction with Raikkonen and Renault's Spaniard Carlos Sainz on the market, while Canadian Lance Stroll may switch to Force India and leave a vacancy at Williams.

Mercedes could seek to place Britain's George Russell at Force India or Williams, both teams that use the German engines, if the current series leader wins the Formula Two title.

That could also influence the future of Mexican Sergio Perez, currently at Force India.