F1 news: Haas boss Gunther Steiner hints at Michael Andretti buyout talks but says ‘nothing concrete’

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Michael Andretti, the former Indy Car driver and current team owner linked with a move into Formula One, has been in talks with Haas team principal Gunther Steiner - but Steiner insists there was no mention of a buyout.

Rumours have swirled around the F1 paddock about Andretti buying a substantial stake in Alfa Romeo, but nothing has yet come to pass. The American Andretti has also been linked to his home team Haas, but Steiner says “nothing concrete” is on the table.

“I spoke with Michael a few times, not lately, honestly,” Steiner said, according to Crash.net ahead of the US Grand Prix this weekend. “I don’t know what Michael is trying to do. Everyone knows each other in American racing and maybe there were talks, but maybe not as concrete as you think they are.”

Haas have struggled with sponsorship during their time in F1, something well-documented in the Netflix series Drive to Survive, and Steiner says they have not done enough to crack the American market.

“What we didn’t do, we didn’t exploit the American market, the sponsorship market, as much as we should have because otherwise we would have more American on the car,” he said. “There hasn’t come anyone knocking on our door with big sponsorship saying ‘because we are American, this is what we will do’ or ‘this is why we will support an American driver’.

“There is no magic in this game and whatever happens there won’t be a lot of change. There is a lot of talk at the moment, but we need to walk now.”