Haas terminate Nikita Mazepin's contract with immediate effect

Russian driver Nikita Mazepin will not race in Formula 1 this season after Haas confirmed they had terminated his contract.

US-owned team Haas had been under immense pressure to act on Mazepin's future following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with sport around the world cutting ties with the country.

While the FIA, F1's governing body, had stated that Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete in their events under a neutral flag, Haas have confirmed they are replacing Mazepin - the only driver from Russia or Belarus on the F1 grid.

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[dnet]

Jeez, Haas's sponsorship track record is pure gold with rich energy drama and now this. Who is their next sponsor? Kim Jong un?

[nobody-wkej]

It would be more controversial if he was actually a good driver.

[andytabala]

Get it right. Mazepin wasn't terminated because he's russian. F1 allows russian drivers to keep driving under FIA flag. Uralkali is the one who's sanctioned. Since he can no longer pay for his seat, he has to go. So in his case, it's not a political decision, it's an economic one. HAAS is most likely currently looking for other pay drivers, but hopefully they can find a title sponsor soon so they can sign a driver that's actually good. I do condemn sports organization for banning russian athletes though, that's discrimination. But this case isn't.

[shafi.a]

US based F1 team sack a driver because his home country invaded another.... The hypocrisy is unreal

[timmehtimmehtimmehti]

Surely this means he will go down in history as one of the worst drivers of all time then, given his results from last year

[JohnOffroader]

The truth is all money. The sponsors assets got freezed, which means the team has no reason to keep Mazepin (who is a paid driver). It wasn't political! And also Mazepin wasn't a talented driver either. For a team like HAAS, Money is everything!

[inconvenienceoffacts]

This is discrimination, you can’t just punish somebody for being Russian. I can’t believe we as society just accepted what is obviously wrong.

[Tom_Peel]

Surely classified as unfair dismissal for the driver if he’s under contract

[george._mav]

At the end of the day it's a shame but he was a pay driver and we need the 20 best drivers in the sport

[aaronalvares]

Not fair on mazepin, people should not face the consequences for the antics of the government

[abdulrahmanishola]

Is that fair tho? I thought we don't mix sports with politics

[OldFashioned]

This is just wrong. There is such a thing called Discrimination through Association… disgusting.

[brightmorningstar]

Sad decision. Innocent people had to bear the consequences of other individual's action.

[shotokhan]

I don't follow F1 but I think this news made people talk about him far more than his achievement in the sport, clearly he was there because of his dad!

[matebalota]

Right decision. Now oligarch daddy’s boy can drive Formula Lada from Archangelsk to Murmansk in isolated Russia

[therealben]

Mazepin more spins (22) than race starts (21).
❌🧢

[wengs]

He will be fine. He is a billionaire after all.

[pierrebyname]

What about the French drivers, American sponsors and British teams 🤔

[TarimUlhaq]

“I like a sport with no politics” he said 🤣

[FootballClubDavid_WI_USA]

Its not because he is Russian, its because of who the sponsors are and how his father makes money. He is an oligarch of Putin. Directly tied to Putin. His dad met with Putin after he started a war.