The Haas stable may have to change drivers during the season. The main sponsor of the Haas stable is a Russian company owned by the father of Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. “If there’s no sponsor money, then the driver won’t drive,” says Jukka Mildh.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has already had a major impact on the sports world. Russian athletes and teams have been largely excluded from international sports.
In private leagues and leagues, such as the hockey NHL, football leagues and formula one, the starting point is different when Russian athletes do not represent their country but their employer.
In Formula One, however, a driver change can still be seen before the season kicks off on March 20 in Bahrain. The 23-year-old Russian, who made his debut in F1 last season at the Haas team in the United States, is driving Nikita Mazepin.
The F1 series announced Thursday that it has terminated its contract with the Russian GP. Sochi will not drive this season, nor in 2023 in St. Petersburg. F1 and the Russian GP had a long deal, however According to the BBC (switching to another service) Russia will not run the number one, at least as long as Vladimir Putin is in power.
Mazepin will not run if the sponsor tap from Russia closes
The position of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) is milder than the F1 series, writes the BBC. It outlined on Tuesday that Russian and Belarusian drivers will be allowed to drive in neutral colors.
– We made a similar decision as, for example, the International Hockey Federation, the Tennis Federation and the Cycling Federation. We forbid competition from national teams, but not from Russian and Belarusian athletes in foreign teams, the FIA explained.
However, the British Motorsport Federation made its own decision that the Russians have no way to compete in the country. If Mazepin continues at the Haas team, the team will likely have to use a deputy driver at least for the Silverstone race in July.
For Mazepin, however, the biggest issue is money. The main sponsor of Haas-talli is the Russian fertilizer company Uralkali, whose main owner is Dmitri Mazepin, Father of Nikita Mazepin. Dmitry Mazepin is said to have close ties with Putin.
Mazepin’s continuation may be affected by the economic sanctions imposed on Russia and, on the other hand, Haas-tall’s desire to distance itself from Russia.
– Above all, this is due to the fact that Mazepin is a payment carrier. The money comes from Russia and the oligarchic patterns. If the bills cannot be paid even if the origin of the money is not acceptable, then there is a clear situation that Mazepin will not be able to continue, said Sport’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh.
– The stable cannot afford to drive a driver for free. After all, they have a spare driver ready. Pietro Fittipaldilla there might be a budget to run. This is a situation in a nutshell that if there is no sponsor money, then the driver will not drive either.
If Mazep doesn’t continue, Haas’ current test driver, Brazilian Fittipaldi, 25, who is a two-time F1 world champion, will become the race driver. Emerson Fittipaldin grandson. Mildh believes funding for Fittipaldi could be found in Brazil.
Netflix’s Drive to Survive series on the F1 world survives According to Racefans (you switch to another service)that Dmitry Mazepin threatened to withdraw funding from Haas last season. Nikita Mazepin constantly lost to his teammate To Mick Schumacherwhen Dmitri’s father claimed that Mazepin’s car had a heavier chassis.
He demanded that Mazepin and Schumacher replace their car bodies or that funding run out. Team Manager Günther Steiner confirmed that the chassis of one car was heavier than the other, but said it had been recycled evenly in the cars of both drivers.
Russian funding increased – underlying crime and even the shooting of an ex-driver’s father
– The Russians have recently been very active in sponsoring motorsports. After all, they had an ambitious goal to be able to bring Russian drivers to the market from the conveyor belt, says Jukka Mildh.
Already last season, the coloring of the Haas stable car attracted attention, as it strongly resembled the Russian flag. Due to the state-led doping program, the colors of Russia have been in the forefront of several sports and motorsport has followed this line. National emblems should therefore not be displayed at competition venues.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Haas switched to using full-white coloring on the last day of the Barcelona tests. Uralkal’s ads were also gone.
– It is quite clear that those colors do not burn in the car. Haas will have to do something with them if Mazepin can continue, but I personally think this is a really sensitive issue, says Mildh.
Mildh says the amount of Russian money in motorsports began to grow 10-15 years ago, when the state leadership increased its investment and recognized track racing as a significant marketing tool.
At the same time, investments in the Sochi railway began. In the past, Russia was not considered a reputable race organizer.
Mildh knows that the number of Russian drivers at the top level has increased alongside the financial investment because the number of Russian junior drivers has increased significantly.
– Unfortunately, this has been accompanied by the fact that the state has been a payer and there has been pressure. There has also been crime there, to remember the father of one driver was even shot. Of course, these can be found in other countries as well, but it is now highlighted there, and Russia is a very fresh country at the top of motorsport.
Vitali Petrovista became Russia’s first F1 driver when he drove a total of 57 races in the Renault and Caterham stables in 2010–12. Father of Vitali Petrov Aleksandr Petrov was shot in the autumn of 2020 at his home near Vyborg in the village of Velikoja.
Alexander Petrov was a prominent and influential businessman and city councilor. Petrov once supported his son’s F1 career by taking out a million-dollar loan, and the company he ran also served as an F1 sponsor for Vitali Petrov.
After the murder, it was reported that Petrov’s death could be linked to a tangle of fraud, in which 700 million rubles, or almost 8 million euros, disappeared from the Vyborg budget.
Jukka Mildh reminds of one more thing that needs to be taken into account in the upcoming F1 season. Formula One is a constant logistical carousel, so that too can cause problems with the success of the race arrangements due to flight restrictions due to the situation in Ukraine, for example.
With the F1 teams, a huge group of people travel with passports from different countries. When schedules are tight during the season, even a small delay or a change in travel plan can, according to Mildh, cause major problems for the stable.
– It is solvable, it is possible to spend money on it. But it’s a big challenge for formula ones. I will raise my hat for the organizers if they get spun according to the plans for this season.
The Haas team was last in the World Series last season. Both drivers were left at zero on the leaderboard. In the 2020 season, Haas managed to prey on three points and beat Williams, who was left at zero. Similarly, in the 2019 season, Haas defeated Williams.
The best season for Haas, who has been in F1 since 2016, is 2018, when Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen brought points from almost every race. Haas was even fifth in the manufacturers’ table.