Haas back Mazepin after Jeremy Clarkson slur

Haas team principal has defended Nikita Mazepin and insisted he has "nothing to do" with the Russian invasion of Ukraine after a slur from TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson was aimed at the driver.

Clarkson, famous for motoring shows Top Gear and The Grand Tour, used a derogatory and offensive term - which GPFans will not repeat - to describe Mazepin as the conflict in Ukraine escalated.

The rest of the tweet read: "Go and race in Russia on your own. You’d still lose."

The team took action to remove Uralkali logos and the red and blue colour from its livery for the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona given the ongoing invasion that has drawn widespread condemnation from leaders worldwide.

Mazepin's father, Dmitry, is a Russian oligarch who owns potash fertiliser producer and exporter Uralkali, placing doubts in both of their futures with Haas, with the team confirming talks will take place in the coming weeks to discuss the legal ramifications of continuing with the company.

Asked during a media briefing that included GPFans how the team could protect Mazepin, Steiner replied: "I heard about the tweet from Jeremy Clarkson about it.

"Maybe it was done in a moment of rage or something because it was quite direct.

"The best thing is to not look at what is there because at the moment, he has nothing to do with this.

"We just need to crack on and see where this ends up and work through it. Hopefully, he can keep his head up and keep on going."

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