Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Force India signs Russian youngster Mazepin

©SaharaForceIndia

Force India has announced the signing of 16-year-old Russian driver Nikita Mazepin in a development driver role.

Mazepin graduated from karts last year after securing second place in the 2014 CIK-FIA World Championship, going on to finish in 12th place in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. Force India says Mazepin will receive "an extensive development programme" which will include "regular simulator sessions and attendance at various race events".

Mazepin will race in European F3 this year and says the opportunity to work with an F1 team from such a young age will allow him to develop more quickly.

“It’s an incredible feeling to join Sahara Force India," Mazepin said. "It’s the biggest step in my career and I want to thank Vijay [Mallya] and everyone in the team for giving me this opportunity. I’m still young and I have a lot to learn, so the guidance and experience of Sahara Force India is really important for my development.

"My goal is to race in Formula One in the future and today’s news takes me closer to achieving that objective. I will work hard to help the team and do everything I can to improve my skills on and off the track.”

F1i exclusive: Tost "more than positive" about Toro Rosso drivers

Feature: What lies behind Honda's miracle power unit gains

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season

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

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.