Romain's disappointing performance could open the doors of the USA team to Sergio in 2020, who would cost less and bring Mexican sponsors.
Sometimes the drivers' market does the track, and it's the worst case scenario for a driver who ends up in the spotlight. This is the case of Haas, which came out of Silverstone with a nightmarish stage booty that Gunther Steiner himself analyzed perfectly with these words: "Our drivers have thought of dealing with a shovel, so as to dig even deeper into the hole in which we are ...".
Haas is in ninth place in the Constructors' standings on the eve of the World Championship lap mark, with 16 points, little compared to 51 in 2018. Only two of these points have been taken home by Romain Grosjean, and this weighs heavily on the team's assessments (or will already be doing so) ahead of 2020.
Grosjean is in his fourth season with the U.S. team and this is not the first time that he has been in the sights of those who consider him too discontinuous and prone to error because of his role as a professional (and well paid) driver.
Also last year, just before Hockenheim, his personal score saw only a fourth place, the only place in the top-10 in ten races, but the team decided to give him confidence and in the round of return came six Grand Prix in the points area that convinced Gene Haas to confirm it.
The Frenchman seemed to have put a dark period behind him, but the first half of the 2019 World Championship saw him again in the less brilliant version, and it is not certain that the decisions of twelve months ago will be confirmed.
Grosjean could be played by a market of drivers who are more crackling than usual in the middle of the starting grid. On the square there are Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, two pilots who marry perfectly with the identikit of the pilot who likes the American boss, always lover of profiles of experience that can bring added value to the team.
The occasion is there and when there is a greedy opportunity like that of two candidates of weight as Perez and Hulkenberg, it is not said that you let it escape.
The difference between the two is that Hulkenberg, expiring with Renault, in the last two years has perceived an important engagement, and tends to maintain (or improve) his economic treatment, while Perez is followed by a cordate of sponsors linked to him by time that in fact covers all his engagement.
In fact, Perez is a zero-cost driver, and this is a significant added value, considering that the Mexican's performance on the track is undoubtedly high.
There is also another aspect that is mentioned in the paddock, namely the great commercial potential that Perez has had for years in Mexico, a resource that could also affect the south of the United States, and in particular the markets of the west coast.
We are not talking about a perfect testimonial for a US team, but about a potential market that, in the absence of American drivers, has its own reason. There are those who say that Perez and Haas have already spoken, and that the contacts are in the process of deepening, because Sergio after six years spent in Force India (later become Racing Point) to change the air in the end would not mind.
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