Haas concede sympathy for Nikita Mazepin but "we did the right thing"

Haas

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Haas concede sympathy for Mazepin but "we did the right thing"

Mazepin's contract was terminated as a direct result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Sam Hall

Thursday 17 March 2022 16:30

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has stated he does not need to discuss the termination of Nikita Mazepin's contract with the Russian and maintains "we did the right thing".

Haas ripped up its deal with Nikita Mazepin and title sponsor Uralkali as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Both the 23-year old and his father, Dmitry Mazepin, have been sanctioned by the EU and the UK in recent days with the latter ruling appearing to block Mazepin Sr's attempt to claim back sponsorship money paid upfront for the coming season.

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Asked if he had spoken to his former driver since taking the decision to drop Mazepin from the team's line-up, Steiner said: “No.

“It is one of these things. What do you talk about? For sure, it is not nice what I have got to say so what do you talk about?

“There was a clear reason why we did it and the reason is clear to everybody I think. I don’t need to discuss with him about what happened there.

"I know as a person it is not his fault but the circumstances, he just ended up in the middle of it.

“We did the right thing. You need to look a little bit forward and the sanctions, nobody was surprised about that. I think we did the right thing and the only thing that I hope is that we are able to stop this war.”

Haas confirm Uralkali funds received

With costs needing to be paid before a wheel is turned on track, it is not uncommon for teams to receive payment upfront from sponsors to ensure a smooth pre-season trajectory.

“I don’t want to go into how much we have received and what we have received, but some, that is normal," explained Steiner.

“My stance on it, should there be an issue, I think there is a legal process in place to sort this out.”

Asked if he expected the money to need to be repaid or if this would be dealt with in legal circles, he added: “It is not to be commented on here.”