Formula One F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 2, 2023 Haas' team principal Guenther Steiner ahead of the Grand Prix REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner said on Friday he stayed too long at the U.S.-owned Formula One team and would give British teenager Oliver Bearman a race seat for 2025 were he still there.
Ferrari-powered Haas are the most likely destination for the 18-year-old who finished seventh on his F1 debut as a stand-in for appendicitis-stricken Spaniard Carlos Sainz in last Saturday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Bearman also took part in some practice sessions with Haas last year.
"Based on his performance in Jeddah, after what I saw from him at Haas, I’d put him in a race seat," Steiner said in his first column for the official Formula One website on Friday.
"Obviously, it depends on the circumstances and what seats are available. You need to see the whole landscape, but he would be a candidate," added the Italian, who left Haas at the end of December.
Both of Haas's current drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg are out of contract at the end of the year.
"For prospective employers, that drive will have taken a lot of doubts away of what he is able to do," said Steiner of the Jeddah race.
"He's in a good place as at the end of this year, there are a lot of contracts up with drivers, so he can put himself in good a position. He can’t go anywhere he wants, but I believe there is more than one opportunity for him.
"I think a lot of teams will proactively look at him now after his performance last weekend ... so I think there is a good possibility for him to get a seat next year."
Steiner said he had been able to switch off from Formula One for the first time in a decade.
"This time has been good for me. The longer time goes on, the more I can see that I stayed at Haas too long," he added.
"I would come back to F1 in the future, but it needs to be the right project, done right."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
