This weekend the 2021 Russian F1 Grand Prix takes place in Sochi. Which leads to the question, how many Russian Formula One drivers have there been in the history of the sport? Well, technically there have only been three, and not the four that you may think. First there was Vitaly Petrov, the first Russian to race in F1 when he made his debut for Renault at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Next was the debut, in 2014, of Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso at the Australian Grand Prix followed by Sergey Sirotkin, driving for Williams, at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
What about current Haas F1 driver Nikita Mazepin? Well, here’s an interesting fact. Leading up to his debut in Formula One at the beginning of the 2021 season, Mazepin did race under the Russian flag. However, the son of Dmitry Mazepin, who is the core shareholder and chairman of the Uralchem Integrated Chemicals Company, has only raced in F1 as a neutral competitor, representing the Russian Automobile Federation!
Of these four, two have competed here in New Zealand in the Toyota Racing Series.
Kvyat finished fifth overall in the 2011 Toyota Racing Series. Of the 12 races he competed in for Victory Motor Racing, he stood on the podium six times including winning the Dan Higgins Trophy at Manfeild Park in Feilding. That same season he went on to compete in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 finishing third, the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC finishing runnerup to Carlos Sainz Junior, and the Formula Renault UK Finals Series finishing third.
Mazepin (main picture) raced in the 2015 Toyota Series for ETEC Motorsport. His results weren’t that startling with just two top ten results (from 16 races) and finishing 18th overall. And, that was in a year with internationals such as Lance Stroll (who won the title), Santino Ferrucci (current IndyCar driver), Australian Thomas Randle and Brit Callum Ilott.
Maybe Robert Shwartzman, the 2018 Toyota Racing Series champion, will be the fifth Russian to make it to F1 although we might have to wait until 2023 for that to happen.
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