Will Nikita Mazepin be a part of the F1 grid in 2022? 

Will Nikita Mazepin be a part of the F1 grid in 2022? 

Nikita Mazepin

There have been massive changes in the geopolitical sphere as Russia has attacked its neighboring country of Ukraine. The attack started on 24 February 2022 and since then has drawn sanctions and words of condemnation for Russia and its actions. And this has shown how the perception of a country and its citizens changes around the world.

The attack has cast doubt over the career of the F1 driver Nikita Mazepin. The 22-year old driver had only made his F1 debut in 2021 for the Haas F1 team. The driver had previously competed in the F2 championship as well. Mazepin’s seat in F1 is credited to his father, Dmitry Mazepin. Dmitry is the chairman of Ural Chem, the company which owns UralKali– the main sponsor of the Haas F1 team. The team and F1 believe that any sort of Russian affiliation to the sport is unethical and wrong. Moreover, the pressure is immense by the fans.

Due to UralKali’s Russian affiliation, the team has decided to remove it from branding. The result of which was the missing Ural Kali branding on the car and truck of the team. The team has also decided to reconsider its sponsorship as the team is owned by an American. 

While speaking of Mazepin’s career at Haas, the team principal said, “It needs to be resolved. There are governments involved, and I have no power over them, and we need to see how the situation develops in Ukraine,” quoted by BBC’s Andrew Benson.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner commented on the status of the sponsorship, saying, “We have to sort out all the legal stuff, which I cannot speak about next week. We will work through it next week.” However, it does seem the boss has made up his mind as he was quoted by TOI saying, “It’s not something which disturbs the team of the competition side and financially we are okay. There is more ways to get the funding, so there is no issue with that one.”

What does NIkita Mazepin’s future in F1 look like?

Nikita Mazepin with his father Dmitry Mazepin alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin
Nikita Mazepin with his father Dmitry Mazepin alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin

In my opinion, Nikita Mazepin’s future with Haas looks bleak. The driver has received strong criticism for staying apolitical on this issue as the driver’s father is a close aide of the Kremlin. His father’s close ties with the Russian president made headlines this week when he attended an inner circle meeting.

Many fans of the sport consider that Mazepin’s seat was earned to him purely by his father, and not even an ounce of it was earned by his merit. And if that’s true and the team does financially well without Ural Kali, the driver may lose his seat to the reserve driver of the team, Pietro Fittipaldi, as the team boss Guenther Steiner said.

Even if the team struggles to find a sponsor to come aboard, they already seem to have a buyer- Michael Andretti, who has already submitted a proposal to FIA to put down the 11th team on the grid.  Since the team has nothing to worry about the finances, they’ll likely ditch the current sponsor, UralKali, and along with them, Nikita Mazepin. 

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