Nikita Mazepin: I lost my seat in Formula 1 because of ‘cancel culture against Russia’
Russian motor racing driver Nikita Mazepin says he is a victim of “cancel culture” following his sacking by Formula 1 team Haas.
Mazepin lost his seat at the US outfit on the eve of the 2022 season when Haas cut all ties with Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Haas’s main sponsor was previously Uralkali, a Russian chemicals company part-owned by Mazepin’s father Dmitry, who has close ties to president Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t agree with being in the sanctions and I’ve said previously that I intend to fight it,” he told the BBC.
“If you look at the whole situation of what’s happening against athletes, it’s cancel culture against my country.”
Since the war, a number of influential Russians have been sanctioned by the UK, Europe and the US, including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Russian teams have been banned from international competitions, including football’s World Cup.
In some individual sports, such as tennis, Russian players have continued to compete by have only been permitted to do so as neutral athletes rather than under their flag.
The UK government, meanwhile, has put pressure on organisers of some events, such as Wimbledon, to demand that any Russians denounce Putin before being admitted.
Mazepin, 23, only entered F1 last year and had a wholly unsuccessful debut season, winning no points and finishing last in the drivers’ championship.
He said he had found images of the atrocities in Ukraine “very painful to watch on many levels”.
But he said: “I see tremendous risks in saying anything at all about this case because I will never satisfy everyone.”