Does Mazepin contradict himself? 'He didn't read the FIA conditions'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Nikita Mazepin has spoken publicly for the first time today about his forced departure from the Haas Formula 1 team. He mainly blames the American team and that he himself did not see it coming and only knew about it when he saw the press release from Haas. According to F1 journalist Chris Medland, however, things are different.
At Twitter Medland looks back at the Russian Ex-F1 driver's press conference. "As I understand it, he didn’t contact Haas about the situation either. Nor did his father or Uralkali. No attempt at clarity made," according to Medland. This would tie in with reports from Haas that they had not heard anything from Mazepin since Barcelona.
Mazepin had not looked at conditions from FIA
The current war in Ukraine has greatly increased tensions between the camp of Mazepin and Haas. Where other sports completely exclude Russians, the FIA had made another opening for drivers from Russia and Belarus to still participate in races.
In Mazepin's press conference he let it be known that he was willing to meet the conditions of the FIA, but according to Medland the Russian had not yet looked at the small print and the conditions he would have to agree to.
What are the conditions of the FIA?
Those conditions include that there should be no political expressions, no reference to Russia whatsoever. That condition alone would make things tricky for Uralkali, the sponsor who kept Mazepin in F1. Because of that sponsor, the Haas car looked a lot like the Russian flag.
The conditions also state that he supports the FIA in their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Since Mazepin clearly avoided during the press conference the topics surrounding the war and the connection between his father and the Kremlin, the chances that the Russian would have agreed under these conditions were not very high.