Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin

Nikita mazepin managed to get a foothold F1 when he was only 16 years old. Russian becomes Force India development driver after competing in Formula in 2015 Renault 2.0 (Eurocup and NEC) with Josef Kaufmann Racing. The young hopeful will have a busy schedule as he will compete in the F3 European Championship within Hitech GP.

“This is the biggest step in my career and I would like to thank Vijay (Mallya, Force India owner) and the entire team for this opportunity. I am still young and I have a lot to learn and the experience I will gain at Force India will be very important for my development.”, commented the new recruit of the Indian team.

“We plan to have him work intensively on our new simulator and he will also have a role in our testing, which is very important for the development of the VJM09 (the car of the 2016 season) », added Vijay Mallya. “It is also interesting for the team to start working with a young Russian driver with the success of the Russian Grand Prix in recent years. It’s a market that offers great potential for F1 and the emergence of new talents such as Nikita promises growing interest. »