Haas F1 Team announced Nikita Mazepin has inked a multi-year contract to drive for America’s lone Formula One team for the 2021 season, which will mark Mazepin’s first competition in F1.
Mazepin, a 21-year-old native from Moscow, Russia, currently competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech Racing. He won his first two F2 career races this season in featured events (Silverstone Circuit and Mugello Circuit), he has achieved six podium results and he is ranked in third place in the Drivers’ standings with the series entering its pair of final races of the season at the Bahrian International Circuit on December 5-6.
The announcement of Mazepin joining Haas is all part of Haas’ new driver roster for the 2021 season after the team announced in late October that Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen will not be returning next season.
“I’m delighted that Nikita Mazepin will be driving for Haas F1 Team next season,” Guenther Steiner, Haas’ Team Principal, said. “Nikita has underlined his credentials in Formula 2 this year with a brace of victories and a handful of podiums in what’s been a strong sophomore season for him. He’s developed into a mature racer moving up through the junior ranks – notably most recently in the GP3 Series, where he finished runner-up in 2018, and obviously in Formula 2 over the past two seasons. I’m excited to see what Nikita can achieve in Formula 1 and we look forward to giving him the opportunity to compete at the highest level of world motorsport. With a record-setting 23 race schedule set for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, he’s going to get plenty of track action to learn all the nuances of Grand Prix racing.”
Mazepin comes into Formula One racing with an extensive background in racing, having competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC for Josef Kaufmann Racing and the Toyota Racing Series for ETEC Motorsport in 2015 before racing in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship the following two seasons for Hitech GP. He then competed in the GP3 Series for ART Grand Prix in 2018, where he won four races and finished in second place in the final standings. The following season, he competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship season for ART Grand Prix, where he claimed two poles and finished in 18th place in the final standings. He also competed in the 2019-20 F3 Asian Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, where he finished in third place in the final standings.
Mazepin is also a former F1 test competitor for Force India and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. He is set to become the fourth Russian to compete in Formula One, joining Vitaly Petrov, Sergey Sirotkin and Daniil Kvyat.
“Becoming a Formula 1 driver is a lifelong dream come true for me,” Mazepin said. “I really appreciate the trust being put in me by Gene Haas, Guenther Steiner, and the whole of the team. They’re giving a young driver an opportunity and I thank them for that. I’m looking forward to starting our relationship together, both on and off the track, and I’m naturally keen to continue to demonstrate my abilities after a strong Formula 2 season. The team will be looking to me for feedback and inputs in order to refine its package for 2021 and beyond. I will take that responsibility on and can’t wait to get started.”
An announcement of Haas’ second competitor for the 2021 F1 season will be announced at a later date.
