“Nothing political in it. Just personal,” George Russell reveals details of his message to Nikita Mazepin


“Nothing political in it. Just personal,” George Russell reveals details of his message to Nikita Mazepin

George Russell

The consequences of Russia’s attack on Ukraine are becoming clearer in the world of sports. Last week, after speculations that started during the first round of pre-season testing in Barcelona, Nikita Mazepin’s contract was terminated by the Haas F1 team, along with the termination of his sponsor Uralkali.

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Nikita Mazepin later commented that he got to know of the termination through the team’s press release and had no information before that. He also said that many drivers sent him messages of support, one of them being the now Mercedes driver George Russell. George Russell stated that his message to Mazepin had “absolutely nothing political,” as quoted by GP Fans.

George Russell and Nikita Mazepin have been teammates in the past at Hitech in the F3 European Championship in 2016. Both of them gradually made their way into F1. George made his F1 debut in 2019 with the Williams team, while Mazepin did with Haas in 2021.

George Russell’s personal message to Nikita Mazepin

Nikita Mazepin
Nikita Mazepin

While speaking of the contents of the message to Mazepin, George said, “There was absolutely nothing political. I think all of our views, of what is going on in the world, are absolutely united.”

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He added, “But obviously for Nikita, I’ve known him personally for a very long time. I was team-mates with him. Obviously, regardless of his background, he is a driver who has dreamt of Formula 1 his whole career and reached it. Now that dream has disappeared for the obvious reasons.”

“I just said ‘Keep you chin up’, as simple as that. Nothing political in it. Just personal,” Russell said disclosing the contents of the message. 

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