Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen set to stay in Haas for 2018 F1 season

Haas F1 Team boss Gene Haas has all but confirmed both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in the team for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

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

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

The French driver had joined the American outfit in 2016 when it made its debut in F1 and was paired with Esteban Gutierrez.

The 31-year-old continued to race for the team in 2017, while former McLaren & Renault driver Magnussen joined the squad as his new teammate.

Having finished eighth in the standings scoring 29 points in its maiden F1 season, Haas is currently seventh after 10 races - with already 29 points in its kitty.

Talking about the current line-up and the change from 2016, Haas added: "Esteban was a good driver. 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."

Haas feels the stability going into 2018 will be key, as it hopes to crack the ultra-tight midfield battle, which currently has Williams, Force India, Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Sauber.

"Right now I would say from P5 to P8 it is so close that eventually we could drop or gain a position with every race," he starts.

"And in this midfield section the team that will finish ahead of his opponents will be the one that makes the least mistakes.

"If you don’t make mistakes and get both drivers in the points every race you can do really well. Force India has done very well and if we can do that we can move ahead.

"And if we don’t then Toro Rosso will do it. We have to be consistent and reliable – and finish races.

"If we finish a race we are probably in that seventh, eighth or ninth position – or maybe tenth. All these positions make points," he added.

"It [2017 second half] cannot get worse that in the second half of 2016. Even if we only score one more point we would be in the plus side!

"My guess is that we will score at least another 29 points. And next year, without a big car or engine change, and with the drivers the same, that should give us a nice continuity boost."

With the probability of Grosjean & Magnussen continuing in the team, it closes off any chance for Ferrari reserve Antonio Giovinazzi, who made his FP1 debut for the team in Silverstone and is set for further runs in the season.

It also puts FIA F2 front-runner and Ferrari academy driver Charles Leclerc in the need to find a suitable seat for himself in 2018, should he be ready to make his F1 debut.

Meanwhile, it more looks like Haas' development drivers Santino Ferrucci and Arjun Maini will eventually move to compete in F2, after spending couple of years racing in GP3, irrespective of where they finish in the standings.

[Image courtesy: Sky Sports F1] #F1 #HaasF1Team #Formula1