Haas TERMINATE contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin over conflict in Ukraine

Haas TERMINATE contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin over conflict in Ukraine as F1 team also end their sponsorship with oligarch father’s company Uralkali with immediate effect

Haas has terminated the contract of Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin
The decision comes in the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine
The team terminated their sponsorship with Uralkali – owned by Dmitry Mazepin
It means no Russian drivers will be competing in Formula One this season

By Isabel Baldwin For Mailonline

Haas has terminated the contract of Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin and their sponsorship with Uralkali with immediate effect.

The team announced its split with Mazepin in the wake of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

His father, oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, is a part-owner of Haas’ title sponsor, Uralkali, and an associate of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

‘Haas F1 Team has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the title partnership of Uralkali, and the driver contract of Nikita Mazepin,’ the team said in a statement.

‘As with the rest of the Formula One community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict.’

The decision means no Russian drivers are signed up to race in F1 ahead of the new season.

The FIA had given Mazepin the go ahead to continue racing under a neutral flag for the season but he had continued to face scrutiny over his homeland’s attack on Ukraine.

Formula One team Haas has terminated the contract of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin

But the sporting federation said on Friday that all drivers must agree to its principles of peace and neutrality and ‘acknowledge the strong commitment made by the FIA to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the Federation Automobile d’Ukraine, and all of those suffering as a result of the ongoing conflict’.

On Wednesday, Motorsport UK, chaired by David Richards, took it one step further and decided to expel all Russians from competition – effectively banning Mazepin from competing at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this year.

Mazepin’s father, oligarch Dmitry, is a part-owner of Haas’ title sponsor, Uralkali.

Haas removed branding of the Russian chemical company for the final day of testing in Barcelona last week.

Haas also terminated their sponsorship deal with Uralkali – owned by Mazepin’s father, Dmitry

The team announced that they have now also terminated their title partnership with Uralkali.

Mazepin snr, who owns chemical company Uralchem, has been a representative of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party and has close ties with the Russian leader.

The 53-year-old attended a meeting held by Putin last Thursday following his homeland’s invasion of Ukraine and the pair have met for talks regarding Mazepin’s business, which he launched in 2007, in recent times.

The wealthy businessman’s current wealth is unknown but reports have suggested it could be up to £5billion ($7bn). Mazepin Snr served in the military as an interpreter in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. He has been awarded military medals by the Russian government.

Mazepin joined Haas at the start of 2021 as part of a sponsorship deal with the company, that helped the team secure its finances ahead of the 2021 season.

Haas said Mazepin’s replacement will be named next week. It is likely reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will step up and replace Mazepin, with the grandson of two time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi looking to add to his two races for the team from the back end of the 2020 season.

Meanwhile, Formula One has cancelled its contract with the Russian Grand Prix.

The team had removed the Russian sponsor branding from its car on the final day of Barcelona testing last week

The decision comes six days after this year’s race, due to take place in Sochi on September 25, was pulled from the calendar.

F1 bosses announced only last June that an agreement had been reached to move the Russian round to Igora Drive, 40 miles north of St Petersburg, from 2023.

But following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the sport has moved to scrap the race altogether.

Ukraine war: The latest

Russia’s defence ministry announces a ceasefire to allow civilians in the besieged port city of Mariupol and the town of Volnovakha to evacuate. Mariupol’s mayor Vadim Boychenko says evacuations will begin at 0900 GMT;
The strategic city of 450,000 people on the Azov Sea, which has suffered intense shelling, has been without electricity, food, water and heating for days in the depth of winter;
A fire at Europe’s biggest nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia is put out, with Ukraine accusing Russia of ‘nuclear terror’ in shelling the plant;
Russian troops later take over the site of the reactors, which generate a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity, after firefighters say they were prevented from reaching the blaze for hours;
At a United Nations Security Council meeting, the US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Russia’s ‘reckless’ overnight attack ‘represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world’;
Moscow’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denies that Russian forces had shelled the plant, saying the statements ‘are simply untrue’.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), offers to travel to Ukraine to negotiate with Ukraine and Russia on ensuring the safety of nuclear sites;
One of Ukraine’s negotiators says a third round of talks with Russia on ending the fighting is planned this weekend;
Putin in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Moscow is ready for dialogue over Ukraine if all its demands are met;
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta says it will stop reporting on the war and the BBC says it is suspending the work of its journalists in Russia as Putin signs a law imposing harsh jail sentences for the publication of ‘fake news’;
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that the war in Ukraine ‘may not be over soon’ and that the US and European allies must sustain tough pressure on Russia until it ends;
G7 foreign ministers warn that Russia will face further ‘severe sanctions’ for its invasion, and call on Moscow to stop its attacks near nuclear power plants;
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance will not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine after Kyiv calls for one to help stop Russia’s bombing of its cities;
Russia is more isolated than ever after a historic vote at the UN Human Rights Council for a probe into violations committed during the war on Ukraine, with only Eritrea siding with Moscow;
Forty-seven people have been killed following a Russian air strike in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, regional authorities say;
Ukraine’s foreign minister claims there have been ‘numerous cases’ of Russian troops raping Ukrainian women and calls for an international tribunal on war crimes;
More than 1.2million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia invaded last week, the UN says;
Global stock markets fall, gas prices reach a record high, and oil prices soar as investors fear the risk of an escalation after Russia attacked the nuclear power plant;
The United Nations’ World Food Programme warns about a looming food crisis in Ukraine in conflict areas.

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