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Haas F1 team will keep Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen for 2018

The Haas F1 team will retain Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen as its drivers next year.

Grosjean joined Haas for its debut season last year and it was widely accepted that one of his goals in racing for the American team was to try to secure a seat at Ferrari, which supplies engines to Haas.

However, team owner Gene Haas says the Frenchman will stay with the squad for a third consecutive season and hopes to benefit from the continuity.

"We will run with the same drivers that we have this year again next year. That is a given," Haas told the official F1 website.

"And given the other continuity aspects, we should be better racers next season."

Magnussen joined Haas from Renault this year, replacing Esteban Gutierrez in the team's line-up after the Mexican failed to score a point in 2016.

Haas believes the decision to replace Gutierrez has paid off, with Magnussen having scored 11 points to Grosjean's 18 so far.

"Esteban was a good driver," Haas said. "He was as fast as Romain [Grosjean] in practice, but I think that Kevin has an edge in terms of race experience.

"He can score points and that was the key for bringing him on board. Kevin can grab points and Romain can too.

"We now have 29 points. Last year around this time we also had 29 points, but did not score for the rest of the season.

"So now if we can score another 29 points by Abu Dhabi, that would be a great position."

Zdroj: autosport.com