Nikita Mazepin has spoken for the first time since he was fired from the Haas team, and not only has he done so on topics that seemed taboo like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also on the fourth installment of the Netflix documentary series ‘ Drive To Survive ‘, in which the fourth episode reveals a previously unfilmed controversy between the American team and the Mazepin family during the 2021 Formula 1 campaign.
The Russian lost to teammate Mick Schumacher in the opening races of his debut season, prompting the driver’s first suspicions that the German had been given a better chassis than his. Those accusations were always denied by Haas boss Guenther Steiner , but caused problems behind the scenes.
Drive To Survive first showed a conversation between Haas adviser Jesper Carlsen and Dmitry Mazepin , Nikita’s father, who with his Uralkali fertilizer company was the team’s main sponsor until the American team ended the deal on March 5, 2022.
Mazepin Sr. and the threat to Günther Steiner
Dmitry threatened on the weekend of the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix by stating: “I will send an official letter saying that we will end the financing and stop racing here.” This was a way that he was looking to push to try to swap the cars because he felt that one was better than another.
Nikita spoke publicly for the first time at Spielberg, four races after the Barcelona incident, about his chassis being heavier than Schumacher’s, something Steiner confirmed, and that it had to do with the repairs. However, the Italian always stressed that the difference was minimal, and starting from Spa-Francorchamps, the Russian driver received a different chassis.
The BBC ‘s Stephen Sackur has now asked Mazepin about the tensions shown by Netflix, and has compared them to blackmail: “It was a difficult situation because when you get to a Formula 1 team, you expect the two cars to be the same” .
“Even if it’s a small team compared to others, where you want to be treated equally, that’s what my father and I fought for,” Mazepin explains.
Putin’s photo with Mazepin follows on Instagram
The 23-year-old Russian is also facing charges in connection with the Ukraine war. On his Instagram account there is still an undeleted photo of him and his father with Russian President Vladimir Putin . And unlike other athletes in the country, he has not yet distanced himself from Putin or condemned the war.
Sackur addresses the issue in the BBC interview without superfluous niceties, concluding from the Instagram post that Mazepin is a Putin supporter. What the latter does not accept: “Stephen, that is not correct. I am a citizen of my country. I was born and raised in Russia.”
“My only connection to the president of my nation is through the sport I play. When I met him, it was on the road course after winning a race, as far as I remember. That’s what we talked about. He was the only Russian driver in Formula 1 , so that’s the connection, because Formula 1 is the highest category of motorsport,” Mazepin said.
What does Mazepin say about his father’s meeting with Putin?
But Sackur did not relent in his efforts in the interview and also brought up a meeting that Mazepin’s father had with Putin when the war in Ukraine had already begun, a situation that the former F1 driver defends: “Uralkali supplies fertilizer to the world. Not just Russia, but it is responsible for food security and hunger in the world.”
“The company controls about 35% of the world market and makes sure that people have food, are healthy and survive. That is why this meeting was held, it is a key industry for the country, but also for the whole world,” he said. .
Mazepin finds it difficult to distance himself satisfactorily from the interviewer, in a conversation titled “HARDtalk”. At least he admits that it is “very painful on many levels” to see what is happening and, at the same time, strongly condemns the sanctions against the Russian government and some of its inhabitants.
Mazepin and his father are on the European Union sanctions list, and the Russian is not satisfied: “I don’t agree with the sanctions and I intend to fight against them. Maybe now is not the right time. If we look at the whole situation , how the athletes are treated, is to cancel the culture against my country”.
Why Mazepin prefers not to say anything about the war
On not being allowed to label the situation in Ukraine a “war” or “invasion” according to the Russian government, because otherwise he would face problems with the authorities, Mazepin says: “There are risks on all sides, Stephen. No matter what you say or do, there’s always an army of critics waiting to take down anything you say.”
Given this, he asks that his situation be understood: “I am 23 years old and, honestly, it is very difficult to manage things like this.” He adds: “I’m going to be honest, I see huge risks in speaking up. I’m never going to please everyone, so I don’t say anything about it in public.”
Although Mazepin can no longer race in Formula 1, he is not sitting idly by. Meanwhile, according to his own statements, he has created a foundation to address the concerns of athletes, mainly Russians and Belarusians, who were exiled due to the war in Ukraine and can no longer practice their sport, as he himself did.
“The purpose for which I created this foundation is for people to have an opinion. I support those who want to express their opinion, but I am one of those athletes who want to reserve their opinions. And I think it is a very important right that everyone has. the world, therefore I am not going to comment on it in public,” he said.
Mazepin: contract with Haas until the end of 2024
The driver says he had a four-year contract with Haas that would run until the end of 2024. Uralkali ‘s title sponsorship was “a separate deal,” he says. Although it is clear to all who know the sector that, of course, the sponsorship was linked to Mazepin’s stay in F1.
His unfortunate approach to the Ukraine war in the eyes of some observers was not the first controversy surrounding Mazepin. In 2016, when he was still driving in Formula 3, he punched rival Callum Ilott in the face several times for obstructing him on a fast lap. There is also the chapter at the end of 2020 when he touched a woman without her permission, and which is still remembered by most fans of the Great Circus.
Mazepin, when asked about it in the BBC interview, explained: “It’s never easy growing up. You do it and you learn from your mistakes. In my case, I took full responsibility. To be honest, I’m not proud of it. , but those were the mistakes of a young man.”
