Should Andretti buy Haas and solve an important F1 political row?

Now that Haas arguably lost one of its main public faces after choosing not to renew the contract of Team Principal, Guenther Steiner, should the team consider other options for its Formula 1 future?

Team owner, Gene Haas, has elected to promote technical engineering director Ayao Komatsu into the hot seat as they look to improve on their season of unfulfilled potential in 2023.

Individuals within an F1 team have the power to make a massive impact on performance, as was the case with McLaren's Andrea Stella who CEO Zak Brown credited for their mid-season turn around.

Komatsu, a relatively anonymous figure save for a few Team Radio messages when he was Romain Grosjean's race engineer, believes they can pull off a similar job and turn the Ferrari b-spec team into a genuine contender.

Andretti name carries more heritage

The breakup between Steiner and Haas has undoubtedly been a messy one, not least due to him being informed that his contract would not be renewed on the week between Christmas and New Years - talk about brutal.

But the reality for the only US F1 team on the grid is they are further away than they've ever been from achieving podiums, and posing a credible threat to the established order.

This is perhaps where Michael Andretti and the merry men of Cadillac could come into play, as F1 and the FIA attempt to resolve the political problem with letting an 11th team on the grid.

Tensions between existing teams and the governing body have been high in the last 12 months, largely because the former stands to lose a considerable amount of money from the existing prize pot by a grid expansion.

Andretti already tried to buy Sauber when it looked at options for joining the grid, and with Haas already having operations in North Carolina this could be the next phase for America's F1 entry.

The Andretti family is arguably less 'anonymous' than Haas, whose name struggles to command the same aurora as Frank Williams, Peter Sauber, or Bruce McLaren, or Jack Brabham.

It would solve F1's 11th team problem, however it would be at the expense of a much-needed expansion to 22-car grid.

Whatever the outcome, could you see Haas selling up to Andretti?