On Thursday Romain Grosjean confirmed that he has made up his mind on where he will be next season but refused to confirm where that would be. AUTOSPORT now understand that Lotus driver Grosjean has signed to race for Formula 1 newcomer Haas for the 2016 F1 season. A press conference has been called by Hass team owner Gene Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner at the teams headquarters in Kannapolis for Tuesday 29th September, where a driver announcement is expected to be made.

Team principal Steiner has already addressed the need for a know quantity to drive the new Haas car in their first F1 season. “We are a new team, we need to be conscious that we need some known quantities. “Everything else is new. The whole team is new people put together, the first car we make… it’s a lot of unknowns.”

With the uncertainty over the future of Lotus and Grosjean’s quality as a driver and 77 Grand Prix starts under his belt, it is clear to see why the drivers future has been called into question. Haas require a driver who has experience, who can challenge and push the car forward. “We need a known quantity in there which in the end can tell us, ‘Hey guys, I think the car is good, but this part of the team doesn’t work,’ or, ‘The team works good – I’ve got a good relationship with my race engineers – but the car isn’t good.’”

Being a team leader for Haas would represent a great opportunity for Grosjean as it would be the first time in his F1 career that a team would be built around him. What could possibly appeal more to Grosjean is the close relationship between Haas and the Ferrari team and thus, with Kimi Raikkonen departing Ferrari at the end of the 2016 season, the possibility of a drive in the ferrari team alongside Sebastian Vettel. If he were to have a good year with Haas a seat at Ferrari is a possilbity for Grosjean, however, there are also risks for him in joining the Haas team.

With Renault expected to complete a takeover of Lotus Grosjean would be removing himself from a French team which again would be built around him. Nevertheless, with the Renault power unit not being as reliable or as powerful as the Ferrari option, that will be in the Haas, there is a strong power unit at the foundation of what Haas will aim to achieve. Haas presents an ambitious new challenge for Grosjean and will take him away from being a pigeon-holed driver. If there was an opportunity to ever take a gamble that could end up with him driving at the front of the grid in 2017 then this is it for Grosjean.

Yes, Haas is a start-up team in F1, however, the team has a strong reputation in U.S motorsport, yet it is again their connection with Ferrari that would hold the strongest appeal to Grosjean. Ferrari power has proven in 2015 that it can hold its own and compete with Mercedes power. With this power the Hass team could quite easily be a strong midfield runner when they take to the grid in Australia. If Grosjean were to join Haas, with the vacant seat in 2017, it would appear that he holds a strong chance of being a Ferrari driver in 2017, something that would not be the case if he were to remain with Lotus for the 2016 campaign.