Steiner confirms 'introductory' Haas conversations with Alfa Romeo

Haas Formula 1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner suspects that Alfa Romeo are looking to continue a motorsport sponsorship after initial conversations.

As revealed by RacingNews365.com ahead of the Monaco GP, Alfa Romeo's assessment on whether or not to continue in Formula 1 looks set to result in a partnership with the Haas team.

The historic Italian brand will end their partnership with the Sauber team at the end of 2023, with Sauber continuing their journey to eventually becoming the Audi works team by 2026.

Haas, who currently have a title partnership with MoneyGram, were due to hold talks with Alfa Romeo at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but the cancellation of the Imola race postponed conversations to Monaco.

When asked about any potential deal with Alfa Romeo ahead of the Spanish GP, Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner was adamant that conversations with Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato in Monaco were only 'introductory', and that he had little indication about what the Italian car manufacturers would like to do next season.

"They are looking at what they are doing in the future, and they came to see us to see how we are doing. An introduction, nothing else," Steiner told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"I had never met the CEO before in my life, and we just got introduced.

"Obviously, there was nothing to hide, we just said hello and that was it. I don't know what they are doing in the future.

"I think they're looking at what they want to do [after their Sauber sponsorship], that's my feeling, but they didn't tell me that because I would never ask them."

When asked if the Haas team would be open to potentially losing the Haas name to facilitate a renaming sponsorship agreement - such as Alfa Romeo's current deal with Sauber - Steiner insisted that the topic was yet to come up within the Haas team.

"I don't have an answer for that because we haven't discussed with Gene about this, because there is nothing on the table, therefore I don't even think about it," added Steiner.