Two failed attempts to sign Sergio Perez emerge from ex-F1 team boss

Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner revealed he tried to sign Sergio Perez twice during his team principal stint but ultimately the deal never came off.

When Steiner first arrived at Haas in 2016, Perez was impressing for Force India before he eventually got his move to Red Bull in 2021. Although he is now struggling at Red Bull, Steiner said back then he would have been the ideal choice to lead the Haas team.

Guenther Steiner reveals Haas attempt to sign Sergio Perez

Steiner managed just seven drivers during his nine-year stint at Haas but no doubt if Perez had come, he would have been the highest profile driver in the team’s history.

The Italian-American told RacingNews365 that he tried to sign Perez “two times for Haas because he’s a good driver.”

“Maybe he was not a race winner or a championship-winning driver, but at Haas, we couldn’t ask someone of Lewis Hamilton’s class to come and join.

“But Checo was a potential candidate when we were doing well, so that’s what I saw in him.

Steiner also said he was shocked as everyone else that Red Bull has chosen to keep faith with Perez despite the Mexican driver severely underperforming in recent races.

“I said live on German TV – ‘I don’t think we will see Checo back after the summer break’,” the 59-year-old said.

“But I think 90 per cent of people in Formula 1 said that, if not more than 90 per cent, because his performance is just not there.

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“All the messages we got from Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko] over the weekend were like, ‘We need to make some changes’, and that’s why I picked them up.

“I didn’t make it up because I cannot judge if Checo should stay there or not, and I’ve no vote in that decision. But the message was, ‘Yeah, there will be some changes’.

“I was as surprised as you guys when I read it. Nothing against Checo but he just didn’t perform.

“He’s obviously in this situation now where he cannot overcome, a little bit like Danny [Ricciardo],” Steiner said of Perez’s current form. “He just cannot get out of the hole.

“I didn’t expect him to be there until the end of the year. But I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

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