Haas boss shuts down ‘nonsense’ Nikita Mazepin comparison amid Oliver Bearman rookie status

Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has shared his thoughts on hiring the team’s first rookie since Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

For 2025, Haas has hired rookie driver and current Formula 2 racer Oliver Bearman – the team’s first rookie hiring since partnering Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 2021.

Ayao Komatsu: You can’t put Ollie Bearman and Nikita Mazepin in the same category

Haas ran the inexperienced pairing of Schumacher and Mazepin throughout 2021, a pairing which ultimately yielded little reward as the VF-21 proved uncompetitive and the two drivers struggled for consistency – Mazepin to a greater extent than Schumacher, who was coming off the back of his Formula 2 championship win.

Schumacher would ultimately hold onto his seat for 2022 before being dropped, as then-Haas team boss Guenther Steiner opted to replace the two drivers with more experience – Kevin Magnussen got the call-up to replace Mazepin in early ’22, while Nico Hulkenberg was drafted in to replace Schumacher after that season.

Running the experienced duo for two seasons, the partnering of the veteran Esteban Ocon with rookie driver Ollie Bearman is the first Komatsu-chosen driver line-up at Haas, and the team boss offered some insight into whether there has been a change of heart within Haas about hiring rookies.

“Every situation is different,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“You have to offer drivers an environment in which they can deliver performance. You can’t put a Nikita Mazepin and an Ollie Bearman into the same category. This is nonsense. I see clear potential with Ollie.”

Bearman made waves earlier this year by finishing seventh on his last-minute substitution race for Ferrari, coping with the pressure of a last-minute call-up from Ferrari to replace the ill Carlos Sainz as the Spaniard had his appendix removed.

But the British driver, part of Ferrari’s driver academy, has struggled in Formula 2 this year – he occupies 15th in the standings, with a sole victory at the Red Bull Ring the highlight of a very subdued campaign in which he was expected to contend for the title with Prema.

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Komatsu is in no way concerned by his F2 form, saying the evidence of what’s been seen from Bearman’s F1 outings – including several FP1 and test runs with Haas – showcase his talent to a greater extent.

“I have no explanation for it because I don’t know enough about Formula 2 and the strengths and weaknesses of the Prema team,” he said.

“For me, the data from its FP1 bets in our car has a much greater value. We have all the information we need.”

Speaking after being hired for the Haas team, Bearman said he’s very excited to begin working with Komatsu in earnest next year.

“I’ve always got along really well with him,” he said.

“When the news came that he was going to become the team principal, I was, of course, very happy because he works really hard and you can see that he’s had a really positive impact on the team.

“So I’m really excited to start working more closely with him because just doing free practice sessions, it’s not really that much. But yeah, I’m really excited to get going and he’s been really influential in getting me into this position.”

As for Mazepin, the Russian driver is attempting to find a way back into F1 and has been rumoured as a possibility for the Alpine seat that remains unconfirmed but speculation has suggested Jack Doohan is all but certain for – Mazepin having close ties with the new Alpine F1 team boss Oliver Oakes.

Mazepin has been out of F1 since Haas dropped him following the beginning of Russia’s military action in Ukraine and sanctions were placed upon Russian companies – such as Mazepin’s father’s company Uralkali – by the EU and the UK.

Several Russian drivers, including former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat, have been able to return to motorsport action under neutral flags, having signed the FIA’s document to declare adherence to the governing body’s principles of peace and political neutrality. Mazepin has not yet raced in an FIA-sanctioned series since leaving F1.

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