Haas won't stand in Romain Grosjean's way if top F1 team approaches

Grosjean took a major gamble in quitting Lotus last season, despite the team then poised to be taken over by Renault, and join F1 newcomer Haas.

Haas and Grosjean then made a stunning start by finishing sixth in Australia and fifth in Bahrain, prior to a more difficult weekend in China.

With a potential seat available at Ferrari next year should Kimi Raikkonen's contract not be renewed, asked whether he feared losing Grosjean, Haas replied: "I don't think I'd ever want to hold a driver back.

"He is happy, but if someone offered him a huge contract and was willing to buy out our contract, and it was with one of those two front teams then he'd be crazy not to do that [move].

"Romain's a pretty cool guy, and quite frankly if he had a chance to be a world champion with another team, that would be something he would probably be foolish not to try."

Haas is impressed by the leadership of the 30-year-old, adding: "He's great. He's very calm about this stuff.

"When things go bad he's just like 'that's the way it is' and his attitude is 'we can overcome these problems'.

"And he's finished fifth and sixth so he doesn't seem to have any problems driving the car."

On the opposite side of the garage, Grosjean's team-mate Esteban Gutierrez has encountered some bad luck over the grands prix weekends to date, and he is yet to score a point.

Asked whether he felt for Gutierrez, Haas initially joked: "I wouldn't stand next to him in a lightning storm, that's for sure."

But he is confident the Mexican's fortunes will turn, adding: "In racing luck is a big part of it.

"Unfortunately I can say this much - Romain is going to have some bad days, too.

"They're inevitable when you do this kind of sport.

"So it kind of comes and goes in waves and I think you just have to deal with it."