Steiner reveals near-miss signing of F1 driver now 'in a hole'

Guenther Steiner has revealed he once came close to signing an F1 driver he is surprised to see will still be in a seat after the summer break.

The former Haas boss had his sights set on signing Sergio Perez at a time when his team was performing well and the Mexican was at Sahara Force India.

Several years on, and with Perez going through a turbulent period at Red Bull, collecting only 28 points from the last eight grands prix to put his team's hopes of retaining the constructors' title in jeopardy, he will remain as team-mate Max Verstappen for this year.

Steiner was as shocked as anyone to read of Red Bull's decision the day after the Belgian Grand Prix when it appeared as if another lacklustre Sunday drive would seal his fate.

"I said live on German TV - 'I don't think we will see Checo back after the summer break'," said Steiner, speaking on the latest episode of the RacingNews365 podcast.

"But I think 90 per cent of people in Formula 1 said that, if not more than 90 per cent, because his performance is just not there.

"All the messages we got from Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko] over the weekend were like, 'We need to make some changes', and that's why I picked them up.

"I didn't make it up because I cannot judge if Checo should stay there or not, and I've no vote in that decision. But the message was, 'Yeah, there will be some changes'.

"I was as surprised as you guys when I read it. Nothing against Checo but he just didn't perform."

Perez 'a good driver, and a good guy'

Steiner likens Perez's situation to that of Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren where the Australian was unable to find a solution to his woes.

"He's obviously in this situation now where he cannot overcome, a little bit like Danny," remarked Steiner. "He just cannot get out of the hole.

"I didn't expect him to be there until the end of the year. But I'm sure they know what they're doing."

Despite Perez's woes, Steiner insists the Mexican is "a good guy", someone he tried to sign "two times for Haas because he's a good driver".

As to what he saw in Perez at the time, Steiner added: "He was a good driver at the time. His behaviour in the team was very good, he got on with people, which is always important. He was just a solid driver.

"Maybe he was not a race winner or a championship-winning driver, but at Haas, we couldn't ask someone of Lewis Hamilton's class to come and join.

"But Checo was a potential candidate when we were doing well, so that's what I saw in him."