"Haas F1 Team has signed Kevin Magnussen to drive alongside Mick Schumacher in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship under a multi-year deal with the Danish driver," Haas wrote in a statement.
Magnussen, who raced six seasons in F1 including four with Haas (2017-2020), one for Renault (2016) and one for McLaren (2014), will drive the VF-22 for the first time during the three days of testing at pre-season in Bahrain, which will start on Thursday.
"I was looking in another direction with regard to my commitments for 2022, but the opportunity to return to racing in Formula 1, and with a team that I know extremely well, was just too attractive," commented the Dane, who said he was "very surprised but also very excited" by the news.
This contract effectively marks the end of his commitment to endurance racing with Peugeot, which is back in this discipline this year and which "acknowledged" its decision in a press release and wishes it "full success".
Earlier on Wednesday, Haas announced that Brazilian Pietro Fittipaldi would replace Mazepin in pre-season testing in Bahrain (March 10-12).
Inexperienced, Fittipaldi, 25, however, was not in pole position to do the whole season, which also begins in Bahrain on March 20.
The Brazilian will drive the Haas well on Thursday afternoon during testing, before Schumacher and Magnussen take over for the rest on Friday and Saturday.
The team will also miss the start of practice on Thursday morning due to a delay in the delivery of its freight.
© 2022 AFP