Though the last couple of weeks have seen two potential Haas drivers - Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi - snapped up by rival outfits, it remains to be seen whether Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen will be retained by the American team.

The pair have had topsy-turvy seasons, The Dane strong in the early stages at a time his French teammate was clearly struggling, while as Grosjean has improved in recent races, so Ericsson's form has clearly dipped.

Though the team is expected to announce its line-up over the Austin weekend, speaking in Sochi today, team boss Guenther Steiner was giving little away, certainly in terms of Grosjean who is only a few penalty points away from the second race ban of his F1 career.

"Since he found the key, as he says, and he didn't lose it again, I think he's performing pretty well," said the Italian. "He's back to what he was before, before he had that dip in performance at the beginning of the season.

"He was here from the beginning," he continued. "He did take a risk for his career to come to us, because he didn't know us, but I think our relationship is very good.

"Whatever happens, I think our personal relationship will stay intact, whatever happens, because we are having a good time.

"If you think about it, we are in our third year and we're fighting for fourth position. What more can you expect? Whatever happens in the future, the relationship will stay positive. There will be no fights."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Sochi, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ffracer, 27/09/2018 22:19

"Agreed with almost all the comments here, particularly with NS Biker's 'Silence speaks volumes'... The words from Steiner that got me were "Whatever happens..." as he repeated that a few times. Grosjean is too costly, and not just monetarily.

Having said that, Ocon would be amazing in a Haas - watching him (and his vindictive teammate Perez) divebomb the leaders on the Spa start was incredible - if only he had a Mercedes exit clause in his contract lol. Then again, I admire Ocon's loyalty... or he knows something about a possible factory Mercedes seat for 2020. Either way, this kid is super talented and gracious in front of the cameras. Too bad, he would be amazing in any team.
"

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2. Posted by NS Biker, 27/09/2018 21:25

"It would seem that Steiner's silence speaks volumes.
Bottom line, RG is 14th, driver's points, in a team that is fighting over 4th place in the constructor's.
As for all of the "good" drivers being snatched up, it would seem that there is still a reasonable selection of quality experienced talent out there, with the Haas being a coveted seat.
Let the games begin. The music will stop shortly."

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3. Posted by Barslug, 27/09/2018 18:20

"Hopefully this means Grosjean is joining the crash club along side of Pastor Maldonado and Daniil Kvyat. He may be fast on occasion, but his decision making is horrible and he can never seem to take any responsibility for his actions. If you are having to continually make excuses for yourself or your driver, that’s a sure sign there is a problem. "

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4. Posted by PlayF1, 27/09/2018 16:21

"When you look a little deeper (and we presume that HAAS will), the points haul would be even higher but for the wheel nut problem and the minor floor infringement (that is being appealed).

Grosjean has got himself into difficulties, but probably the only major error was when he floored it, and crossed the track.
The blue flags incident ... he could have done without that.
All the other incidents are fairly normal happenstance, even binning it on cold tyres (others have done this) - not great, but far worse when it is part of a bad run.

When you look at the other 'racers', they have all (or most) caused prangs and dropped the ball.
At one point, the talk was of Perez taking his seat, er, how many times has he whacked his team mate, never mind other drivers?

Grosjean is a naturally fast racer, and the team needs to be on top of that, to ensure they get the most from him.
"

Steiner tight-lipped on Grosjean's future

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