MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Russia’s FIA Formula One auto racer Nikita Mazepin said on Wednesday it would be impossible to reunite with Team Haas F1 Team.
"Formula 1 racing is a very dangerous sport and one should always trust your team - I have no trust after what Haas did to me," Mazepin told journalists.
"I believe it is impossible for me to return to this team, which doesn’t not want to see me anymore," he continued.
"I haven’t spoken with [Team Haas Principal Guenther] Steiner after I left test trials in Barcelona," Mazepin said. "He did not speak to me all this time and I found out from the news release that a contract with me was cancelled."
"He [Steiner] is in full charge of the team and he is completely responsible about the termination of the contract with me," the Russian racer said.
Russian auto racer Nikita Mazepin, 23, signed a multi-year contract with Haas F1 Team in December 2020 becoming Russia’s fourth racer to compete in the world’s most prestigious auto racing series, FIA Formula 1. Mazepin’s best result at the legendary F1 racing circuits was 14th place.
On February 5, FIA Formula One Team Haas announced that it cancelled a contract with its racer Mazepin. The US-based F1 team also terminated its title sponsorship deal Russia’s major fertilizer company Uralkali.
Mazepin raced last season for Team Haas alongside Germany’s Mick Schumacher, who is the son of F1 seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.
2022 F1 Grand Prix
The FIA F1 executive management announced a decision to cancel the 2022 F1 Grand Prix in Russia’s Sochi, scheduled for September 23-25.
Last week, the executive management of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Formula One also cancelled a contract on the organization of the F1 racing series Grands Prix on the territory of Russia.
According to a statement from FIA F1 press office on March 3, "Formula 1 can confirm it has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter. It means that Russia will no longer have a race in the future.".