Nikita Mazepin has been given the chance to return to Formula 1 amid rumours surrounding the potential sale of the Alpine team.
This week it was announced that Oliver Oakes, the founder of Hitech GP, which competes in Formula 2 and Formula 3, will take over Alpine after the summer break. However, it appears that there may be more to Oakes’ appointment than just a change in team principal.
Oliver Oakes, together with Kazakh businessman Vladimir Kim, applied for the Hitech GP team to enter Formula 1, but was rejected by the FIA. Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport writes that Oakes and Kim are now trying to enter Formula 1 ‘via Alpine’. It is possible that Renault will sell its Hitech team altogether.
It is no secret that Oliver Oakes is involved in the career of Nikita Mazepin. The Russian driver competed for Hitech in Formula 3 and Formula 2. In addition, there have been rumors for some time that Dmitry Mazepin, Nikita’s father, is one of the investors of Hitech. However, this has not been officially confirmed.
Given Mazepin’s connections with Oaks, Formula 1 began talking about Nikita’s possible return to the wheel.
In March 2024, the European Court overturned the decision to place Nikita Mazepin on the EU sanctions lists, which significantly increases his chances of return. However, a potential problem could be that Nikita does not have a valid superlicense, but this is a solvable problem.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
