MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The decision made by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on Wednesday is fair, but the process of lifting previously imposed sanctions regarding auto racer Nikita Mazepin is not over, the Russian athlete told TASS.
The CJEU ruled in its statement earlier in the day that: "The family connection with his father, Russian businessperson Dmitry Mazepin, is not sufficient for him to be regarded as being linked to his father by common interests and, therefore, for him to be maintained on those lists."
Commenting on today’s court decision Mazepin told TASS: "I am very pleased with today's decision and I’m grateful to the European Court of Justice for its unbiased consideration of my case."
The CJEU ruling, posted on its official website, reads in particular: "By its judgment, the General Court upholds his claim and annuls the acts maintaining Nikita Mazepin on the lists of persons targeted by restrictive measures."
"The General Court recalls that the 'association' criterion, applied in respect of Nikita Mazepin, covers persons who are, generally speaking, linked by common interests," the European court stated. "In accordance with settled case-law, that criterion implies the existence of a link going beyond a family relationship, established in the light of a set of indicia sufficiently specific, precise and consistent."
"As regards the alleged sponsoring of Mr. Nikita Mazepin by his father, the General Court finds, inter alia, that, since March 2022, Mr. Nikita Mazepin has no longer been a driver for the Haas F1 Tea," the court’s ruling continued. "The maintaining acts are therefore based, de facto, solely on the family connection, which is not sufficient to maintain his name on the lists of persons subject to restrictive measures.
On March 2, the CJEU ruled to clear Russian auto racer Mazepin to participate in Formula One racing and other global racing series events as well.
Russian auto racer Nikita Mazepin, 25, signed a multi-year contract with the Haas F1 Team in December 2020, becoming the fourth Russian racer to compete in the world’s most prestigious auto racing series, FIA Formula 1.
On February 5, 2022, FIA Formula One Team Haas announced that it had terminated its contract Mazepin. The US-based F1 team also rescinded its title sponsorship deal with Russia's major fertilizer company Uralkali.
Mazepin’s 2021 F1 racing season for Team Haas alongside Germany’s Mick Schumacher, who is the son of seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, ended with his best result, as he finished in 14th place.
The Team Haas fleet of race cars was decked out in the colors of the Russian flag during the 2021 season since the title sponsor of the US team was Russia’s major fertilizer company Uralkali. The company’s main owner is Dmitry Mazepin and his son Nikita Mazepin was racing for the US team before being dismissed.
Mazepin, born on March 2, 1999 in Moscow, was Russia’s fourth racer in the world’s most prestigious auto racing series, FIA Formula 1.
The first Russian racer in Formula One was Vitaly Petrov, who made his debut in 2010 and retired after the 2012 season.
Another Russian driver, Daniil Kvyat, raced for F1 Teams Red Bull and Toro Rosso at different times between 2014 and 2017. Kvyat missed the 2018 season and was back again racing for Team Toro Rosso in 2019, 2020.
Sergey Sirotkin raced for Team Williams during the 2018 FIA F1 World Championship and he was the third Russian to enter the world of Formula One.