F1 | Haas, Steiner defends Mazepin's hiring: "He's third in F2, it's a valid choice"

For many, Nikita Mazepin is a pilot with a suitcase who bought the Haas seat, thanks to the money of his father, a wealthy Russian entrepreneur. Gunther Steiner, team principal of the American team, instead defended the choice to hire the very young Russian driver, underlining the excellent results that the boy is achieving in Formula 2.

“Nikita is third in the F2 standings, Tsunoda is fifth - Steiner noted - Yet Red Bull wants to bring Yuki to F1 with AlphaTauri and I think they are not doing anything wrong. But even more so, I'm not doing anything wrong with Mazepin either."

Steiner admits that the contacts with Mazepin have lasted for a while, but that the negotiation took place in a very natural way:

“Mazepin's dad is very well known in the paddock and I've known him for a while. We observed Nikita's growth and when we decided to change our riders we thought of him. From the outside, the situation seems more complicated than it really is; there was no pressure. Our team is not for sale, of course Dmitry Mazepin has a company so there would be nothing wrong if he acted as a sponsor, but it is normal to look for and have commercial partners in F1."