Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has taken aim at Jeremy Clarkson following the former Top Gear presenter's foul-mouthed rant at Nikita Mazepin.
Last week, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to declare war on Ukraine, F1 bosses responded to pressure by axing the Sochi Grand Prix, originally scheduled for September, from the 2022 calendar.
Haas also took action, confirming they would be dropping branding of Russian sponsor Uralkali from their car ahead of the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Mazepin's father, Dmitry, is owner of the company and is reportedly an ally of President Putin.
And as the situation between Russia and Ukraine was escalating last week, Mazepin was quizzed about the Russian Grand Prix going ahead last Wednesday before it was eventually scrapped from the calendar.
Mazepin responded: "As an athlete competing at the highest level you know what's going on in the world at the moment and obviously it involves Russia.
"I'm not struggling at all because I've always been a big supporter of sports without politics and today I'm in Barcelona."
These comments drew criticism as he did not specifically condone Russia's actions, but he addressed the situation further, by writing on Twitter : "To my fans and followers - it's a difficult time and I am not in control over a lot of what is being said and done. I'm choosing to focus on what I CAN control by working hard and doing my best for my Haas team. My deepest thanks for your understanding and support."
However, his perceived reluctance to oppose the conflict prompted criticism from F1 fans, but Clarkson duly found himself under fire as well by tweeting after hearing the driver's initial comments: "Nikita Mazepin. You f***ing r***d. Go and race in Russia on your own. You’d still lose."
As well as seemingly mocking Mazepin's performances in his debut season, during which he failed to register a championship point, Clarkson's comments were widely viewed as derogatory towards disabled people.
However, the post has not been deleted and now Steiner, 56, has accused Clarkson of ranting in the heat of the moment.
"I heard about the tweet from Jeremy Clarkson about it. Maybe it was done in a moment of rage or something because it was quite direct," he said, as quoted by The Independent .
"The best thing is to not look at what is there because at the moment, he has nothing to do with this.
"We just need to crack on and see where this ends up and work through it. Hopefully, he [Mazepin] can keep his head up and keep on going."
The future of the ex-Formula 2 driver hangs in the balance though, after the President of the the Automobile Federation of Ukraine, Leonid Kostyuchenko, demanded the FIA bans all Russian and Belarusian drivers from competing outside of their own countries.
As a result, the FIA have arranged an emergency meeting for Tuesday, with Mazepin's future in the sport to be discussed by the World Motor Sport Council.
