Axed Mazepin claims steps to keep racing in F1 ‘ignored’

Haas announced, on Saturday morning, that it has ended its sponsorship with the Russian chemical giant Uralkali, With Mazepin – whose father owns Uralkali – he lost his driving for the 2022 season.

It came in response to Russia’s widely condemned invasion of Ukraine last week, with countries around the world imposing sanctions on Russia.

Motorsports authorities around the world have given their own response to the Ukraine war, with the FIA, the governing body of Formula 1, banning Russian and Belarusian competitors from racing under their original flags.

Motorsport UK has banned competitors from both countries from competing in its series.

Considering the Mazepin family’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nikita MazepinF1’s future was in doubt.

In a statement released on his social media, Mazbein said: “Dear fans and followers, I am very disappointed to hear that my F1 contract has been terminated.

“While I understand the difficulties, the ruling by the FIA ​​as well as my continued desire to accept the terms proposed in order to continue were ignored, and no process was followed in a unilateral move.

“To those who have tried to understand, my eternal thanks.

“I cherish my time in Formula One and I sincerely hope that we can all be together again in better times.

“I will have more to say in the coming days.”

Haas has yet to make any follow-up announcements of its latest news regarding who will be coming on board as the main sponsor and who will replace Mazepin.

In an interview during Barcelona’s pre-season test last season, Haas team boss Gunther Steiner said the test driver Pietro Fittipaldi will be the first to lose Mazepin his seat.

Fittipaldi ran two races for Haas in 2020 as a substitute for the injured Romain Grosjean After the Bahrin accident horror.

On the final day of Barcelona pre-season testing in February, Haas removed all Uralkali branding – which included the colors of the Russian flag – from its cars in response to the Ukrainian invasion.

It’s not clear at this point what Haas’ plans are for pre-season testing in Bahrain for Formula 1 in the wake of the Mazepin/Uralkali split.