Haas is thought to have emerged as a genuine option for Perez in 2017, with the Mexican's protracted talk with his current team Force India still to be resolved.

While Steiner drew well short of confirming that any talks with Perez have been held, he did stress that his team was evaluating all experienced F1 drivers without a contract in place for next year.

Asked by Motorsport.com whether Haas would be interested in Perez if he was available for 2017, Steiner said: "I think if Lewis Hamilton calls up, we're going to speak with him as well, you know? I mean, we are talking to a lot of people.

"I think a lot of things are starting to move now - everyone thought it's over and it's not.

"We'll just stay and grade what is happening, you know? It's still not the end of the season, or not the beginning of the [2017] season."

"Anybody's on our radar, that's what I said before. Anybody without a contract... in F1, everybody without a contract in F1.

"We are looking for experience, that's what we always said. The experience brought us the points this year, why would we do anything different."

The Perez rumours have naturally created uncertainty over the future of current Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez, as the announcement that his current teammate Romain Grosjean will keep his seat for 2017 appears a formality.

Steiner, however, stressed that Haas negotiating with a number of drivers does not mean Gutierrez is guaranteed to lose his seat.

"It doesn't mean Esteban is out - we just haven't made the decision. We're looking at everything and we're just taking our time."

Gutierrez himself had said back in July that he was certain he would remain in F1 in 2017 - and has now insisted the Perez rumours do not change his current situation.

"It's nice, why not?" he quipped when asked about Perez contending for his Haas seat.

"Doesn't change anything. Everything is very positive."

Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov