Mazepin hopes for comeback: 'I'll say more about it in January'

Mazepin drove for Haas alongside Mick Schumacher in 2021 and already had a new contract in place for 2022. However, because war broke out in Ukraine at the beginning of the year, Haas decided to review their partnership with Mazepin. Mazepin's father Dimitri Mazepin - also the owner of main sponsor Uralkali - is said to have good ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin, so Haas broke all ties with Uralkali and the Mazepin family in early 2022.

Since then, things have been quiet around the Russian driver for a long time, although he stressed at various times that he still envisions a return to the sport. Mazepin has since made those plans a little more concrete. Speaking on Russian platform Championat, he said, "I plan to return in races outside Russia. I hope to be able to say more about that in January." Which races or championships that will be is not yet known.

'Had a plan to beat Schumacher'

The Russian, who did not really mince words anyway, also took the opportunity to tell how he would have envisaged his results had he stayed in Formula 1: "On my last test day in Spain, I was faster than Mick Schumacher. I already had a plan to beat him over the course of the season. Who knows if that could have been done."