NIKITA MAZEPIN will make his Formula One debut next season having been confirmed by the Haas team.
The Russian, who is currently racing in Formula 2, is the son of a billionaire and brings lucrative sponsorship to the team.
The 21-year-old is expected to line up alongside Mick Schumacher, who is likely to be confirmed by Haas this week.
The Brackley-based team have already told Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen that they would not be renewing their deals and have gone for the rookie partnership in 2021.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HIM?
He has money. And lots of it. Well, technically his dad has.
Dimitry Mazepin is worth over £5billion and founded a chemical company Uralchem in 2007.
Mazepin is sponsored by Russian chemical company Uralkali, who make fertiliser, where his dad is a shareholder.
But is not only his financial clout he is known for.
He once punched current F2 rival Callum Ilott in the face, leaving the Brit with a black eye and swollen jaw. Mazepin was given a single-race ban for the incident.
IS HE ANY GOOD?
He has shown moments of ability. In 2018 he was in GP3 racing alongside Ilott for ART and finished the season in second place in the championship.
In 2019 he joined Formula 2 and struggled.
However, this season he has improved and claimed his first win at Mugello. He is currently third in the championship behind Schumacher and Ilott.
IS HE READY FOR F1?
The simple answer is, we will not know until his first race.
But there is a widely-held belief that he is not as good as Magnussen, Ilott, Sergio Perez or Nico Hulkenberg, who are also available.
Haas have struck a deal based on the financial/talent balance that they believe will make them more competitive.
It is a run as a business after all.
Mazepin has stumped up the cash for a few private tests with Mercedes and Force India back in 2016 and 2018, so given the lack of testing currently available, he certainly has a better chance than most of getting up to speed quickly.
