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Paris (AFP)
The Haas Formula One World Championship team announced on Thursday that its French drivers Roman Grojan and Dane Kevin Magnussen will leave their ranks at the end of the current season, on the eve of the free trials of the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The American team did not reveal its alternatives, but some press reports indicated that it had contacted Russian Formula 2 drivers Nikita Mazepin and German Mick Schumacher, son of legend Michael Michael, seven times world champion in the first category.
“I want to thank Roman and Kevin for their great work and their commitment to the Haas team in recent seasons,” said Italian team technical director Gunter Steiner.
Grogan joined the team in 2016 and Magnussen followed a year later, but the Dane, who had previously raced for Renault and McLaren, had only scored one orphan point this season.
“I am still working on my plans for the future, which I will announce in due course,” Magnussen, 28, said in a post on Twitter.
The drivers’ chances of remaining in Formula One next season appear slim as Mexican veteran Sergio Pérez, who is in his final season with Racing Point and German Niko Halkenberg, is looking for a team for next season.
While the Frenchman tweeted: “The last credit is over and the book is closed (…) I learned a lot and developed to become a better pilot and a better man.”
Grogan, 34, who was on the podium ten times in his career when he was with Team Lotos, earned his first points this season with ninth place at the Eiffel Grand Prix earlier this month.
Haas ‘team enters the last six races of the season in ninth place in the constructors’ standings, with just three points in penultimate position to Williams empty-handed.
© 2020 AFP
