Guenther Steiner tells Haas what they should say to Kevin Magnussen about his immediate F1 future

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Haas will be fielding an entirely new driver pairing for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Esteban Ocon will be joining the American outfit from Alpine as Nico Hulkenberg’s replacement. The German will be moving to Sauber for 2025 on a multi-year deal, which will see him become an Audi works driver come 2026.

Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen is also out of Haas come the end of the year. The Dane has currently scored only six points in 2024 compared to Hulkenberg’s 24 as he sits in the top 10 of the championship.

Magnussen has come under controversy this season as he accumulated 12 penalty points on his super license after an incident with Pierre Gasly at Monza and landed him with a race ban for Baku.

Although not his most series infringement – echoed by Jacques Villeneuve who believed Magnussen should have been banned after his crash in Monaco – the Dane was sidelined for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and was subsequently replaced by Oliver Bearman.

The 19-year-old will be the driver to replace Magnussen full-time in 2025 at Haas alongside Ocon. Bearman made his F1 debut back in Jeddah with Ferrari, finishing seventh in place of the ill Carlos Sainz.

Guenther Steiner thinks taking Kevin Magnussen out of the car now is ‘worth considering’

In Baku, Bearman recovered from a crash in FP2 to finish the race in 10th, becoming the first driver in F1 history to score points for two different teams after two race starts.

Fans were left in disbelief by Bearman’s Baku performance as he managed to beat his more experienced teammate Hulkenberg. Many have speculated since that the Brit could step into Haas early than anticipated and replace Magnussen for the rest of the season.

While team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted to thinking about dropping Magnussen permanently, he said it was never a serious consideration and the Dane looks like he will finish the season before leaving the team.

But speaking on the Champ1 YouTube channel, former Haas boss Guenther Steiner reckons taking Magnussen out of the car now is ‘worth considering.’

Asked whether Bearman could join Haas now, he said: “I honestly don’t know, I don’t even know the contract. I do not know whether you can get out it somehow, [but] you can get out of every contract, you know that.

“You can get out of every one, and otherwise you just get out of it with money. That is also possible. But there are also ethical reasons.

“I would say Kevin was a big part of the team when the team wasn’t doing so well and that’s why you stay loyal. You also have to stay human.

“Maybe talk to Kevin and say: ‘hey Kevin, at the moment it looks like Ollie [Bearman] is stronger than you, what do you say to that?’

“We don’t know that these conversations took place, or at least I don’t know, but it could be.

“But you have to think about it. What you said is certainly worth considering, it is worth considering even now.”

Is there a case for Oliver Bearman replacing Kevin Magnussen at Haas now?

Magnussen has only managed six points in 2024 with a best finish of eighth at Spielberg. While Bearman is ahead in the standings mainly due to scoring points in a faster car in Saudi Arabia, the argument is there for the Brit stepping into the VF-24 for the remainder of the year.

Magnussen has been outqualified 14-3 by Hulkenberg thus far as the German has been able to extract the most out of the machine this season. Hulkenberg beat the Dane 15-7 last season, as Magnussen looks to lower than gap this year.

In just one outing for Haas as Magnussen’s replacement, Bearman qualified 11th in Baku – the same position he managed in the Ferrari earlier in the year – ahead of Hulkenberg, before beating him in the race.

The 19-year-old will be in the car anyway next season so there is a case for giving him an early chance in 2024, but it does look likely that Bearman will finish his F2 campaign before moving permanently to F1.