Nikita Mazepin’s Formula 1 career came to an end, at least for the time being, at the beginning of March, when the Haas team decided to break its contract with the Russian company due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A few days earlier, the team had already said goodbye to the main sponsor, Uralkali, one of Russia’s big fertilizer companies, and which is run by Dmitry Mazepin, Nikita’s father.
Haas made a quick change to his line-up, bringing back his old driver, the experienced Kevin Magnussen, as a replacement for the young Russian, a turn of events that shocked the entire paddock.
Yet despite losing his seat, the 23-year-old Mazepin has not been sitting idly by. He has maintained his activity in a foundation that will provide financial aid to Russian athletes who cannot practice their sport at the international level, a ban due to both official sanctions and the federations’ own decisions.
This does not mean that the chapter between Nikita Mazepin and the Haas team is completely closed. The Moscow pilot has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, according to the Russian media outlet RBC.
“When the contract was terminated, Haas F1 had already been late in paying my wages for this year. They still haven’t paid it,” he said of the reason he has taken his former team to court. “It seems to me that an employer should at least offer compensation for the wages that would have had to be paid up to the time of dismissal and possibly even some form of severance pay.”
In April, this website already reported that Uralkali wanted to recover a sum of 12 million euros in sponsorship from Haas. The American team, however, put a stop to this and demanded compensation of 8 million euros, for lost profits.
Mazepin stressed that his lawsuit against the team, for which the necessary documents have already been filed in court, was separate, as his position with the team was governed by a separate contract.
“I am only referring to the fact that the contractual obligations have not been fulfilled. You also have to understand that we had two independent contracts,” he continued.
“Breaking the deal with the title sponsor had no direct impact on my future with the team, so two different decisions were made. I haven’t seen any money yet, so we’re going to go to court.”
