Haas takes risk: Still a chance that Mazepin won't get his super license

Nikita Mazepin is under contract with Haas for 2021, but Günther Steiner has taken a risk with that. It is still possible that the Russian will lose his super-licence in the last weekend in Bahrain.

It was a surprise to few people that Haas announced Nikita Mazepin as a driver for 2021 on Tuesday. The Russian has been linked to the American team all season and especially the money of his father, who is a billionaire, is of course very interesting for Haas. However, things can still go wrong.

The chances are slim, but Mazepin could still be eighth in the Formula 2 standings and he wouldn't get enough super licence points to drive in Formula 1. The gap between eighth placed Guanyu Zhou and Mazepin is 36.5 points and with 48 points still to be distributed in Bahrain, there is still a chance that Mazepin will miss out on his super license.

However, that chance is not very big, because not only does Zhou need a perfect weekend, but Robert Shwartzman, Yuki Tsunoda, Christian Lundgaard and Louis Deletraz also have to pass the Russian in the standings. ''I don't think that will be a problem. There is still a theoretical chance, but it is very small. I dare to take that risk," says Steiner to Motorsport-total.com.

Steiner has spoken extensively with the FIA and it seems that even if things go wrong, there is still a way out. However, Steiner does not want to go into what has been discussed with the FIA. ''I firmly believe that he will just make the points necessary for his super-licence, so I'm not going to tell you what the FIA has said,'' concludes Haas' team boss.