NIKITA MAZEPIN DROPPED BY HAAS FOR 2022

It was announced today (5th March 2022) by the Haas F1 Team that due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia - the team would cut ties with main sponsor Uralkali and Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. So the question now is who will replace the Russian driver?

The most likely replacements for Mazepin are some Ferrari Driver Academy drivers currently in F2 or maybe further out in the world of motorsport.

The obvious one is Haas F1 Team - reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi - who ever since the talk of replacing Mazepin began has been the front runner - but Haas have refused to rule out anyone at this stage with the new driver set to be announced net week.

Other possible drivers could include Arthur Leclerc who as you guessed is the brother of current Ferrari driver Charles. He however has recently made the jump up to F3 and is unlikely to get the call up - the same goes for Oliver Bearman who recently joined F3.

A driver linked with an F1 seat for a long time and who has links with Ferrari includes 2020 F2 Vice-Champion Callum Ilott who currently is plying his trade in IndyCar.

Another name which was floated around was Antonio Giovinazzi who tested for Haas a few years ago and was recently dropped by Alfa Romeo for Zhou.

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