Helmut Marko has said he's open to Russian drivers participating in Formula 1 provided they oppose the actions of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Haas driver Nikita Mazepin recently saw his contract with the manufacturer terminated and will not race in 2022 due to father Dmitry's links with Russian company Uralkali, the team's title sponsor.
Mazepin Sr. has been photographed meeting with Russian leader Putin, whose ongoing siege against Ukraine has drawn widespread criticism from across the globe.
However, while Red Bull advisor Marko agreed the links with Russian fertiliser firm Uralkali warrant caution, he questioned the decision to punish individual athletes.
In a recent interview with Austrian daily Osterreich, the 78-year-old referred to his previous experience living through wartime when asked if he still enjoyed travelling for his career in F1.
"I was hoping that the Corona madness would slowly be over," Marko replied. "Now comes the war.
"I witnessed the Yugoslav war 30 years ago up close. But that's a completely different dimension now with this brutality and the threat of using nuclear weapons."
As well as Mazepin being axed, the Russian Grand Prix has also been removed from this season's F1 calendar, reducing the number of scheduled races back down to 22.
The 2022 F1 season was set to be the biggest on record after increasing its slate to an unprecedented 23 races, but the sport was swift in its judgement against the Sochi pitstop.
"I think that the Russian GP [being removed] is justified," Marko continued. "Excluding Mazepin is justified insofar as his cockpit is financed with Russian money. National teams should also be excluded.
"But individual athletes? Hello, there must be no personal liability. Or do you also want to forbid [Russian soprano] Anna Netrebko to sing?"
The head of Red Bull's driver development program concluded by saying he would "let athletes who clearly distance themselves from Putin start."
Mazepin has yet to publicly denounce Russia's war on Ukraine, it's worth noting his father's close connections to Putin put him in a difficult position.
The 23-year-old recently took to Twitter and vented his frustrations following Haas' decision to terminate his contract, suggesting his efforts to remain on the grid were overlooked.
"Dear fans and followers," he wrote. "I am very disappointed to hear that my F1 contract has been terminated.
"While I understand the difficulties, the ruling from the FIA plus my ongoing willingness to accept the conditions proposed in order to continue were completely ignored, and no process was followed in this unilateral step.
"To those who have tried to understand, my eternal thanks.
"I have treasured my time in F1 and genuinely hope we can all be together again in better times."
Mazepin made his F1 debut last year and finished joint-last overall as one of only two full-time drivers who failed to earn a single point (the other being former Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher).
Officials are still uncertain on the exact number of Ukrainian deaths caused by Russia's invasion, though the United Nations confirmed on Sunday at least 364 civilians had been killed.
The siege has also sparked a mass migration of people, with more than 1.5million refugees having fled Ukraine in search of safety over the past fortnight.
