Haas boss Guenther Steiner admits 'no possibility to keep' Mazepin father and son after Russian invasion

Updated 18/03/2022 at 17:11 GMT

The US Formula 1 team Haas has had to deal with controversy before with Nikita Mazepin, but before the 2022 season began in earnest they had to part ways both with him and his billionaire father Dmitry. Gene Haas stepped in to cover the financial shortfall, and team boss Guenther Steiner explained that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had forced their hand.

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said the the Russian invasion of Ukraine made the Mazepin presence in the team untenable.

The American team had a major sponsor in Uralkali, which is owned by Dmitry Mazepin, and as part of that deal his son Nikita - already a controversial figure in the sport - was retained as one of their drivers.

However, Mazepin Sr.’s links with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, forced them to end their deal with the chemical company and Nikita also departed as a result.

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Steiner expressed no regret about taking money from Uralkali before the invasion of Ukraine, but told the BBC that events meant that the arrangement had become unworkable.

"We couldn't make any other decision when we got to it, there was no possibility to keep him driving,” he admitted.

“The criticism, the sanction, altogether, it didn't work out any more.”

Mazepin was replaced by Haas’ former driver Kevin Magnussen.

Formula 1