Nikita Mazepin faces an anxious wait over the future of his Formula 1 career as the FIA prepare to hold showdown talks on Tuesday to decide his fate.
While the Haas F1 Team driver has not committed a personal offence, the FIA are considering a request from the Automobile Federation of Ukraine (FAU) to suspend all Russian driver licences and are holding an ‘extraordinary meeting’ to make a decision.
It comes after Russia president Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade Ukraine on February 24, with armed forces advancing towards the capital of Kyiv and attacking other Ukrainian cities.
President Mohammed Ben Sulayem wrote to the FAU to offer his “full support and the support of the FIA”, and should they agree to the suspension, it would affect Mazepin as he drives under the Russian flag attached to his superlicence.
The driver, when asked for his opinion on the events in Ukraine, gave a vague answer in the drivers’ press conference: “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,” he said.
“I'm not struggling at all because I've always been a big supporter of sports without politics and today I'm in Barcelona."
F1 have already announced the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix, which usually takes place in Sochi, due to the ongoing situation. The decision had the backing of teams and drivers — and that could spell bad news for Mazepin.
Here, Mirror Sport looks at the controversial F1 star’s eventful career to date and what could happen next for the 22-year-old.
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Controversies
Mazepin is a divisive character in F1 both on and off the track, and it is certainly not the first time he has faced widespread calls to be booted out of F1.
In his earlier days racing in the European Formula 3 championship, Mazepin was driving for the Hitech Grand Prix team when he became embroiled in a disagreement with ART GP's Callum Ilott, attacking the Briton after a free practice session.
Ilott, who was reportedly left shaken by the incident, had cuts to his cheek and neck and swelling to his jaw. Mazepin was handed a one-race ban by the FIA for unsporting behaviour in the paddock.
Just weeks after landing his seat with Haas in November 2020, he was heavily criticised after footage surfaced on Instagram of him appearing to grope the breast of a female friend, Andrea D’Ival, while in the backseat of a Porsche.
The Haas F1 team, facing calls to cut Mazepin loose, released a statement condemning his actions and described the incident as “abhorrent”, with the Russian forced to issue an apology on social media.
"I would like to apologise for my recent actions, both in terms of my own inappropriate behaviour, and the fact that it was posted on to social media," he said.
"I am sorry for the offence I have rightly caused and to the embarrassment I have brought to Haas F1 Team. I have to hold myself to a higher standard as a Formula One driver and I acknowledge I have let myself and many people down. I promise I will learn from this."
Social media users began a campaign against the driver with the hashtag '#WeSayNoToMazepin', but Haas opted to retain the driver for the 2021 season.
Russian billionaire father
Unlike drivers such as Lewis Hamilton who came from a working class background, Mazepin's route into the sport has been funded entirely by his billionaire father Dmitry, making him what the sport call a "pay driver".
The Russian oligarch has a personal wealth estimated to be over £5billion after founding chemical company Uralchem in 2007.
Mazepin Jr’s sponsorship last season derived from another Russian company, Uralkali, where his dad is a shareholder. And the £30m-a-season deal was viewed as significant to the team’s survival, with their 2021 livery featuring Russia’s white, blue and red colours.
However, the constructor decided to remove Uralkali branding from their 2022 car due to the Russian invasion last week and sported an all-white livery with no sponsors on their front or rear wing at testing in Barcelona.
The Mazepins have been spotted meeting with Putin in the past, with the 53-year-old businessman known to be a representative of the United Russia Party.
He was pictured meeting with Putin as recent as January, and those links are unlikely to help Mazepin in his bid to avoid being suspended from the sport.
Haas and F1 future
Even if the FIA decide against suspending all Russian drivers, Mazepin's days at Haas appear to be numbered.
Mazepin’s rookie season in the sport was tarnished by several on-track incidents as the young driver struggled to get to grips with the car. It resulted him taking several spins off the tarmac, earning him the nickname ‘Maze-spin’.
While the Haas car was a clear backmarker in 2021 due to the team’s lack of funding, Mazepin was consistently outperformed by his team-mate Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Throughout the season, Mazepin did show small signs of improvement and registered a highest finish of 14th at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. However, along with Schumacher, he failed to score a point throughout the 22-race season.
Mazepin’s aggression towards his German colleague resulted in a fiery relationship between the pair, with the former accusing Schumacher of “f***ing” his qualifying lap “on purpose” at the Dutch Grand Prix last year.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has already confirmed that if Mazepin loses his seat, reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi — nephew of former F1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi — would make the step up.
And if that was the case, Mazepin may struggle to return to the pinnacle of racing without the promise of financial backing from his father’s company.
