Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed that he met Russian billionaire Dmitry Mazepin at the Russian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, but denied rumours they discussed the future of the American racing outfit.
“I have known Mr Mazepin for a long time,” Steiner told reporters ahead of the Eifel GP. “He was in Russia for obvious reasons – he is Russian after all.
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“He was in our motorhome with his family. We drank coffee with them and, in fact, that is all.”
Continuing, Steiner conceded that there might be some suitors who are interested in buying the Haas F1 team, but insisted that team owner Gene Haas is not looking to sell the constructor.
“We are not for sale,” Steiner said, echoing what a Haas spokesperson told Formula1News.co.uk earlier this month.
“Let’s end this conversation. If we put the team up for sale, we would do it the way Williams did, with a broker. That’s exactly what we would do,” he added.
Reports of Dmitry Mazepin being interested in buying the Haas F1 team surfaced last month, with a number of media outlets claiming he wants to acquire the team so he can give his son, Nikita Mazepin, a place on the Formula One grid.
Aside from the rumoured takeover, Haas have been in the news due to speculation about what their 2021 driver line-up might be.
Formula Two driver Callum Ilott, who was poised to make his F1 weekend debut with Haas in FP1 at the Nurburgring, is believed to have a good chance of joining the team in 2021.
Unfortunately for Ilott, he didn’t make his debut this weekend due to both of the Friday practice sessions being cancelled.
It’s unclear when he will next have an opportunity to feature in a Formula One practice session.
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