Dhe Formula 1 team Haas is separating from Mick Schumacher’s Russian stable rival Nikita Masepin and the Russian main sponsor Uralkali with immediate effect. This was announced by the US racing team this Saturday. “Like the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a quick and peaceful end to the conflict,” the statement said.
Haas has not yet named a new driver, but the American-Brazilian replacement driver Pietro Fittipaldi is said to replace Masepin from Moscow. Like Schumacher, Masepin contested his first Formula 1 season in 2021.
Formula 1 races in Russia canceled
Haas team boss Günther Steiner left open the future of Masepin as a driver and of financier Uralkali as a financier last week after the Russian attack on Ukraine. Nikita Masepin’s father Dmitri is a co-owner of the Russian mining company. The sponsorship is said to have brought Haas around 40 million euros a year.
In any case, his son would only have been allowed to start in Formula 1 this season as a neutral athlete under the “Fia flag”. In addition, the 23-year-old should have signed a code of conduct that documents, among other things, a clear distancing from Russia’s actions.
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However, the British Automobile Association issued a complete ban on participation for teams, drivers and officials from Russia and Belarus. A start for Masepin in the tenth race of the season on July 3 at Silverstone would have been impossible even without Haas’ separation.
Formula 1 had previously canceled the Russian Grand Prix this year. In addition, the location was completely removed from the racing calendar. The first Grand Prix of 2022 will take place in Bahrain on March 20th.
