Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen to leave Haas at end of season

Haas F1 said Thursday that drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean will be leaving the team after the Formula One season.

"I've been with Haas since day one".

"The last chapter is closed and the book is finished", he wrote.

Frenchman Grosjean, 34, has been at Haas since 2016, with Dane Magnussen, 28, joining in 2017.

"Being part of a brand new team has been a challenge that I have thoroughly enjoyed and it has brought me a huge amount of experience that has helped me grow and develop as a racing driver".

"Five years during which we went through highs and lows, scored 110 points in 92 races, but the journey was worth it". While Steiner refused to reveal who is in contention, he did confirm the team is now "down to a lot less people now" from its original shortlist of at least 10 drivers. This is probably my biggest pride, more than any of the insane first races in 2016 or fourth at the Austrian GP 2018.

"I need to look after the team in general and they both are very understanding, for sure they are not happy - who would be - but they had a good understanding and they know that we gave them a good run at that as well, so it wasn't only good for us it was good for them as well".

He explained the timing of Haas' announcement, stressing that the team wanted to be "fair" to Grosjean and Magnussen by giving them as much time as possible to secure their future plans for next season and beyond. "Thank you all for your support".

It is understood that Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin are favourites for the now-vacant seats.

Mexico's Sergio Perez seems top of the list of potential replacements following Racing Point's decision to replace him with Sebastian Vettel for next season. He had been linked to a drive with Alfa Romeo, but it is expected that Antonio Giovanizzi will remain at that outfit.

"Romain and Kevin played a significant part in that success", said team boss Guenther Steiner in a statement.

"Romain was a fundamental part of our establishment as we sought to get a driver on board with both speed and experience". It's been a challenging year, no doubt about that. Williams has both its drivers tied up for another year, but there have been reports new owners Dorilton are looking for a way out of Nicholas Latifi's and George Russell's contracts.

"We value their inputs and experience to keep pushing the team forward through to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December".