Mazepin to Formula 1: Never won a title, but a place at Haas
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Haas have announced Nikita Mazepin as their new driver for 2021. Haas still need to announce a second driver for 2021. But who exactly is the Russian driver who has never won a Championship.
Billionaire son
Mazepin was born in Moscow on 2 March 1999. Nikita is the son of Dmitry Mazepin, who is said to have assets of almost EUR 6 billion. Mazepin senior is a shareholder and chairman of Uralchem, a Russian manufacturer of a wide range of chemical products, including mineral fertilisers and ammonia saltpetre.
The young Mazepin chooses a different career to his father and ends up racing. In 2014, he appears for the first time in the MRF Challenge in the Middle East, where he takes the podium once and finishes tenth in the standings. He will then compete in 2015 in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Toyota Racing Series. There too he will not get further than one podium.
Not the best impression
His first season in Formula 3 is not a resounding success either. In the year that Lance Stroll dominates F3, father Dmitry has to watch as his son only scores ten points in 30 races and finishes in 20th place in the standings. However, even more, money is being put in to be successful in 2017.
That will only succeed to a certain extent. In 2017, Mazepin was on the podium three times but finished in tenth place in the general classification. His third year at this level (then known as GP3) is slightly more successful, but after two years of practice, he should perhaps have achieved more than a second place in the standings behind young Anthoine Hubert.
Mazepin doesn't win any championship
In 2018, the Russian will finally make the move to Formula 2, but there he impresses most with his special incidents. He will be on pole twice, but his action in Sochi will certainly come in for a lot of criticism. In 2020, however, he had a chance to drive for Hitech Grand Prix. He won two races and sits third in the Drivers standings.