Mazepin threatened to stop financing Haas earlier, for this reason
F1 News
- GPblog.com
It will not have escaped anyone's notice that Haas has cancelled its contract with Russian title sponsor Uralkali, and with it Nikita Mazepin's contract. However, the sponsorship deal has been in question before, albeit for different reasons. Father Mazepin threatened to withdraw funding from Haas in 2021 after his son complained about teammate Mick Schumacher's chassis.
Last season, the 22-year-old Mazepin complained about the chassis of his car, which was said to be heavier than that of teammate Schumacher. He cited that claim as the reason why he could not beat his teammate.
Team boss Guenther Steiner confirmed that there was a small difference in weight between the two cars, albeit a very minimal one. In a preview for the new season of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, it appears that tensions were running high between Haas and Mazepin at the time.
Mazepin threatened to stop funding Haas
The episode shows Steiner trying to convince Mazepin that both drivers have the same car, but the latter doesn't want to know about it. Dmitry Mazepin then presents the team with an ultimatum.
"If it doesn't change, I will send an official letter that we will stop financing," he threatens. "It will be a huge problem with the money." As we know, that threat was not carried through, but the cooperation has since been terminated from the Haas side.