Mazepin: Haas ‘completely ignored’ my willingness to race in F1

Haas confirmed on Saturday morning that it had sacked Mazepin and also split from title sponsor Uralkali - a Russian chemicals company - with immediate effect as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Uralkali is co-owned by Mazepin’s billionaire father Dmitry, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Haas had come under intense pressure to act following a wave of sanctions from worldwide sporting bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international events. 

F1’s governing body, the FIA, outlined that Russian drivers would be required to sign a document forbidding him from supporting Putin’s war on Ukraine in order to race. 

Responding to Haas’ decision to terminate his contract, Mazepin insisted he would have accepted the FIA’s terms to continue in F1 this season. 

“I am very disappointed to hear that my F1 contract has been terminated,” wrote Mazepin. 

“While I understand the difficulties, the ruling from [the] FIA plus my ongoing willingness to accept the conditions proposed in order to continue were completely ignored and no process was followed in this unilateral step.

“To those who have tried to understand, my eternal thanks. I have treasured my time in F1 and genuinely hope we can all be together again in better times. I will have more to say in the coming days.”

The 23-year-old leaves F1 after finishing 21st in the championship last year, in which he managed a best result of 14th. 

Haas is expected to announce Mazepin’s replacement early next week, ahead of the second pre-season test in Bahrain, which begins on March 10.