The news of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen’s impending departure from the Haas team was not unexpected, there has been a lot of talk about who Haas will take for 2021, and there were many rumours about neither driver being retained, and many others being linked to that seat. The team clearly wanted to go in a new direction for 2021, which made it clear it was only a matter of time before this news came through.
So what does this mean? Haas had stated they have 10 shortlisted drivers for 2021. If both Magnussen and Grosjean were on that list, then that brings it down to eight. But one thing that I believe is a certainty now is that Nikita Mazepin will occupy one of those seats. Rumours of him joining the team have reached a fever pitch in the past few weeks. Haas have stated they want both speed and money in the team. As Nikita is currently on a run of form in F2, and considering he brings in money from his billionaire father, it looks like a done deal. An interesting thing is his father’s Uralkali company owns the Hitech team, who Mazepin drives for in F2.
The big question is who will take that second seat? Will they want two pay drivers in the car? There are many potential options, which include Ferrari Academy drivers Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman, or the experience of Sergio Perez or Nico Hulkenberg, the former could bring money to the team. Rumours are suggesting it could be Mick that gets the nod, but there are also rumours suggesting that Alfa Romeo have signed Mick as well. Could there be a war between the two Ferrari customer teams to sign the current F2 points leader?
As for Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, it seems almost certain that neither driver will remain on the grid. For Romain, people are forgetting when he was a rising star, and there is a touch of bad luck in the way his career has gone, he was on the rise in late 2013 but as he was doing so, his team, Lotus hit financial trouble and the car underperformed, breaking his momentum and he never recovered. It seems like he will move to WEC for 2021. In Kevin Magnussen, we are set to lose one of the most exciting drivers to watch on the grid. Yes he has aggravated his rivals on occasions but you can’t deny that when he is within the rules, his racecraft is exciting to watch. It also is a shame he didn’t live up to the promise he showed at the start of 2014 where he scored a podium on debut. But he can be thankful he got six years in the sport, after getting dropped from McLaren, his career was almost over after just one year before Renault made a last minute decision to sign him in 2016. F1’s loss could be IndyCar’s gain, as that looks to be his preferred series if he can’t remain in F1.
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