F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Mercedes rules out Mazepin from Abu Dhabi test

X (Twitter)X (Twitter)
FacebookFacebook
WhatsappWhatsapp

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has ruled out Nikita Mazepin from next week's young driver test in Abu Dhabi, but the decision has nothing to do with the Russian's recent private antics.

Mazepin, who will race with Haas in F1 next season, has undergone an "extensive" testing program with the Brackley squad to prepare himself for his promotion to the big time.

It was initially believed that the 21-year-old Russian would cap off his program with an outing with Mercedes at next week's post-season test, but the German outfit has opted instead to run Formula E chargers Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries.

"We had an extensive testing programme with him throughout the year with a two-year-old car," Wolff told Sky F1.

Wolff said that Mazepin's exclusion from the test wasn't related to the video posted by the Russian on Instagram and that landed the future Haas driver in hot water this week.

"No, it’s nothing to do with his actions," he added. "The most important thing was to have some learning from the test.

"For the young driver test, we decided on the line-up over the last few days and providing the opportunity to Stoffel and Nyck is good.

"They’re our works drivers in Formula E, they’ve done a super-solid job. And also with Stoffel not being in the car last week, it just made sense to put the two in the car."

As Mercedes' official reserve driver, Vandoorne had initially been considered as Lewis Hamilton's replacement before a deal was struck with Williams for George Russell to be loaned to the championship winning team for last weekend's Sakhir GP.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Bearman admits ‘clumsiness from my side’ as Aussie agony grows

Oliver Bearman’s Australian Grand Prix weekend has unraveled into a nightmare, with a string of…

15 mins ago

McLaren drivers lock out front row in Australian GP qualifying

Lando Norris spearheaded a McLaren domination in qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, clinching…

1 hour ago

2024 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying results

Full results from qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, round 1 of…

1 hour ago

New era, new gear: Hamilton’s Ferrari wheel has fans buzzing

Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari debut might just be the most talked-about thing in Formula 1 since…

3 hours ago

F1's Domenicali to meet Thai officials over potential Bangkok GP

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed that he will be flying to Bangkok after…

4 hours ago

Australian GP: Piastri edges Russell and Verstappen in final practice

Under a blazing Melbourne sun, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the pace in Saturday’s third and…

5 hours ago