Haas is currently leaving the door open for a driver change in 2017.
In truth, the American team has immediate problems to solve, given a spate of recent brake failures — the most recent being Esteban Gutierrez’s in Austin.
Asked why it’s happening so often, team boss Gunther Steiner told Auto Motor und Sport: "You would need to ask (supplier) Brembo."
But amid that problem, the new American team is in the middle of negotiations for its second seat, with Romain Grosjean almost certainly staying for 2017.
As for Mexican Gutierrez’s place, Steiner admitted: "We don’t know.
"It is frankly still completely open. We will not make any more deadlines and given no timelines, because if you don’t comply then you are no longer taken seriously," he added.
This weekend is Gutierrez’s home race and so it’s an awkward time for the 25-year-old to have his future so unclear, but he said this week: "Things are going well.
"We have some options," he is quoted by the Spanish daily Marca.