Haas

Hitech personnel could join Mazepin at Haas - Steiner

Mazepin raced with Hitech in his second year of competing in F2

Sam Hall

Friday 8 January 2021 11:03

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has left the door open to the possibility of personnel from F2 outfit Hitech GP joining the team to assist Nikita Mazepin in his rookie year.

In his second and final F2 campaign Mazepin raced with Hitech GP, a team run by former Red Bull Junior Team driver Oliver Oakes.

Mazepin also raced for Oakes during his karting days, and Steiner said if bringing familiar faces into the team helps the Russian to adapt to F1 quicker, he would consider the move.

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“I have got a good relationship built up with Oliver Oakes, because he looks after Nikita as a driver," said the Haas boss. "I think he was with him since Nikita was karting.

“We will see, but at the moment we are a team which is ready to have him and that is what we are going to do. If they can add something then why not?”

Mazepin contested his first F2 season with ART, the team that helped George Russell win the 2018 title, although he claims he did not see eye-to-eye on issues such as set-ups.

Describing Hitech as 'the next step in professionalism', Mazepin said of his time with ART: “I think it's fair to say that we started in an okay place but we didn’t move forward at all.

"Myself and the team’s philosophy on car set-up had not been going in the same direction and it’s also important to say that the people that I have worked with this year in Hitech are, in my opinion, the next step professionalism level.”

Mazepin, who finished fifth in the F2 standings last season, with the team fourth in the constructors', added: “When I went to race with Hitech GP they hadn’t existed in Formula 2 previously.

"So although it is only 12 people, everybody needed to blend in with each other and it was a big task but I think the team handled it fantastically.

“For us to be able to do reasonably fast pit stops, make less mistakes than some teams with starting set-ups. I think it’s an achievement that’s worth noticing."