Guenther Steiner claimed he would not sign Lewis Hamilton for his Haas team amid concerns over his age.
Hamilton, 38, is unmatched by anyone in Formula 1 history when it comes to the number of races he has won, while the Brit also holds a wide range of other records. In contrast, Haas have yet to win a race since joining the grid in 2016.
But Hamilton's past is not as important as his future, as far as Steiner is concerned. And that, he explained, is why he would look at other options if he had the chance to choose any driver pairing he wanted for his team.
"I wouldn't say Lewis," he told Sky Sports when asked who he would hypothetically choose to sit in his team's cars if given the chance. "Because he's getting on with age but there is another one which he is very good. This is Fernando [Alonso]. I mean, the guy is over 40 and, man, he knows how to drive."
Instead, there are a handful of very talented racers who have many more years in them that interest Steiner more. One of them, naturally, is the defending double world champion who looks well placed to add a third to his trophy cabinet by the end of this year.
He added: "I think it will be controversial, but I can be open about it because they are not coming to drive for me anyway! That's solved that problem of the controversy. I think it would be Max [Verstappen] for sure. And either Charles [Leclerc] or George Russell."
Not that he needed to elaborate on why Verstappen would be his top choice, but Steiner did so anyway: "I think he, in the moment, is just a driver, which talent wise and mentally wise, is just on a peak. He's just on top of the wave, he can do anything with a car in the moment. Everything seems to be going right for him."
Back in the real world, Steiner has a real contract situation to resolve this year. Kevin Magnussen is in his second stint with Haas and enjoyed some remarkable highs last year – but the team boss was also left frustrated by the Dane who he felt was not being pushed hard enough by former team-mate Mick Schumacher.
Steiner told Mirror Sport that Magnussen is "not happy" about being beaten by new partner Nico Hulkenberg and will be more motivated. As for the Dane's contract, which expires this year, he said: "I want to at least give another five races to see where we are and then start to think about it."
