Nikita Mazepin will not be able to be in the 2022 Formula 1 season at the wheel of the VF-22 after the American team announced his departure. Haas communicated this decision through a publication on its social network accounts first thing in the morning a week before the start of the last tests of this course.
The Russian pilot has been the center of attention in recent days at the Great Circus due to the conflict between his nation and Ukraine, since that would affect his main sponsor, Uralkali , his father’s company and which contributes a large amount of money to the team.
In the statement that released the set, it explained: “The Haas F1 Team has chosen to terminate Uralkali’s sponsor and driver Nikita Mazepin’s contract with immediate effect. As part of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened. for the invasion of Ukraine and we want a peaceful way to resolve the conflict.
In this way, Mazepin will leave the 2022 grid, and Haas will have to find a replacement to occupy the Muscovite’s seat. The best placed for this is Pietro Fittipaldi , a pilot who has been in the American formation and who has the support of the team leader, Guenther Steiner , who stated that he was the first option in case the Russian left.
The team that started in Formula 1 in 2016 is facing an unknown period, with the departure of its main sponsor and with a rather delicate economic situation. The Great Circus is relentless, and they will have to find financial support to ensure their presence for the coming years, since the entry of Michael Andretti as a new group is looming.
The same former driver explained that Gene Haas, owner of the Kannapolis team, refused to sell the team, so Andretti had to look for other alternatives, and is expected to enter the grid from the 2024 course with Renault engines, although this It can change at any time, as has happened with the future of Nikita Mazepin.
