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Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc
It's being reported that all 10 teams have agreed to sign the new contract for 2021-2025 . So does that mean Haas is staying in the game ? Or is that a placeholder and the team could be sold ? I would like to see them stay , get a good sponsor on board and get more competitive . Wouldn't hurt to hire two new drivers also .
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You see this a lot, a good driver in a not so good car. And then there's the salary, or in many cases how much sponsorship money the driver brings to the team. IDT a simple driver change will put Haas any higher on the grid. Better to split the money, and I don't even suggest evenly, between drivers and engineers. That's the core of the effort and if there isn't complete synergy you might as well get in the car yourself and see what you can do. That's about the size of the situation when the driver/engineer relationship isn't completely productive.
Other aspects of the team are obviously mechanical and race strategy, as well as top performance in the pits and in the factory. Mechanical issues and the race itself and be unpredictable (to a point) compared to car design and driver function as a pair.
However, my completely uneducated opinion is that Grosjean may be past his prime. He was fast when he first started in F1. He has driven for 3 teams if you include his brief F1 ride with his F2 team Renault in 2009. He's been with Haas since the days of of the Lotus team bouncing back and forth under the names Lotus and Renault. 4 years with 2020 being his 5th at Hass, his contract is ending this year.
We shall see what happens with Grosjean and indeed, Haas. The thing is, whenever Grosjean has dropped back into a feeder series he has been very successful. So, is it the driver, the car or the engineering? The choices faced are like which reliever to select in the top of the 6th with the beginning of the batting order on deck and 2 men on, with one out.
That takes exceptional experience. Hass just isn't exceptional in any way.
Williams? Well, if they are sold, the best thing to do at this time, IMHO, is rid the place of anyone named Williams and move the main principals up one notch if they are worthy. Wholesale house cleaning would be recipe for terminating the team. Starting with an entirely regrouped organization hasn't shown well in history.