Photo: Haas F1 team
Nikita Mazepin has announced his intention to start a foundation that is meant to help athletes who cannot compete because of political reasons. The former Formula 1 driver, with just a season to his name and left without a seat in F1 last week, wants to help other athletes who have found themselves in this situation.
The 23-year-old Russian wants to use the money that his sponsor, Uralkali, was meant to pay to the Haas F1 Team this year to fund his foundation. The latter is set to be called "We compete as one," which reminds us of the "#Weraceasone" initiative from F1, but that is a different matter.
In an official statement, Uralkali noted the company's desire to claim damages and seek repayment of what they contributed so far to the F1 team this year. The Russian company is not happy with the unilateral end of the contract.
Nikita Mazepin has decided to go this route after the FIA, which is motorsport's governing body has denied letting him compete as a "neutral athlete." The latter treatment was previously applied in various sporting competitions, but we cannot think of one where it was used in Formula 1. The FIA decided to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Mazepin has continued to raise the "no politics in sports" card on the entire matter.
Many of you are aware that Dmitry Mazepin, Nikita's father, is a “non-executive director” of Uralkali, which used to be the Haas F1 Team's sponsor. Due to that level of power, Nikita Mazepin got a seat in Formula 1. He is not the first driver to "pay for his seat," and will probably not be the last.
However, the issue here is that Nikita's father, Dmitry, is also close to Vladimir Putin, and numerous Western companies have decided to impose sanctions on Russia on the fact that it invaded Ukraine. Russian oligarchs have also been targeted by sanctions, as many are close to Putin, as reports claim.
If you ask us, that is the most likely reason why Nikita Mazepin was denied the possibilty of continuing to race in F1 under a neutral flag.
Nikita Mazepin's foundation attempts to ignore all this and asks to let him, as well as other sportspersons who cannot compete because of “political reasons” (read war or Russian invasion of Ukraine) enter competitions under a neutral flag.
In WRC, though, Nikolay Gryazin competes under the neutral flag that represents the Russian Automobile Federation, not the Russian Federation. The former is part of the latter but does not represent the latter in the sport, basically.
As a reminder, the entire "Authorized Neutral Athlete" thing is a category that was developed a few years ago after several Russian athletes were involved in a doping scandal. Since the country was banned from competitions of this kind, several athletes competed as neutrals in various championships.
It worked in those sports because other athletes were guilty of doping, while some were not, so the latter had no fault in the situation. The idea with this category when it was first introduced was to allow athletes to compete without involving politics or harming the chances of an individual to succeed in a sport when fellow nationals have done things that led to the country's ban from certain events.
In Nikita Mazepin's case, things are not as simple, as his father is close to Vladimir Putin. Instead of commenting the FIA's decision, we ask if Nikita Mazepin would have entered Formula 1 in the first place if his father was not close to the Russian Federation's President. If the answer is yes, then splitting politics from sport is not possible in that case.
In an official statement, Uralkali noted the company's desire to claim damages and seek repayment of what they contributed so far to the F1 team this year. The Russian company is not happy with the unilateral end of the contract.
Nikita Mazepin has decided to go this route after the FIA, which is motorsport's governing body has denied letting him compete as a "neutral athlete." The latter treatment was previously applied in various sporting competitions, but we cannot think of one where it was used in Formula 1. The FIA decided to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Mazepin has continued to raise the "no politics in sports" card on the entire matter.
Many of you are aware that Dmitry Mazepin, Nikita's father, is a “non-executive director” of Uralkali, which used to be the Haas F1 Team's sponsor. Due to that level of power, Nikita Mazepin got a seat in Formula 1. He is not the first driver to "pay for his seat," and will probably not be the last.
However, the issue here is that Nikita's father, Dmitry, is also close to Vladimir Putin, and numerous Western companies have decided to impose sanctions on Russia on the fact that it invaded Ukraine. Russian oligarchs have also been targeted by sanctions, as many are close to Putin, as reports claim.
If you ask us, that is the most likely reason why Nikita Mazepin was denied the possibilty of continuing to race in F1 under a neutral flag.
Nikita Mazepin's foundation attempts to ignore all this and asks to let him, as well as other sportspersons who cannot compete because of “political reasons” (read war or Russian invasion of Ukraine) enter competitions under a neutral flag.
In WRC, though, Nikolay Gryazin competes under the neutral flag that represents the Russian Automobile Federation, not the Russian Federation. The former is part of the latter but does not represent the latter in the sport, basically.
As a reminder, the entire "Authorized Neutral Athlete" thing is a category that was developed a few years ago after several Russian athletes were involved in a doping scandal. Since the country was banned from competitions of this kind, several athletes competed as neutrals in various championships.
It worked in those sports because other athletes were guilty of doping, while some were not, so the latter had no fault in the situation. The idea with this category when it was first introduced was to allow athletes to compete without involving politics or harming the chances of an individual to succeed in a sport when fellow nationals have done things that led to the country's ban from certain events.
In Nikita Mazepin's case, things are not as simple, as his father is close to Vladimir Putin. Instead of commenting the FIA's decision, we ask if Nikita Mazepin would have entered Formula 1 in the first place if his father was not close to the Russian Federation's President. If the answer is yes, then splitting politics from sport is not possible in that case.
Care to comment , Nikita?https://t.co/MO7j5ivp5x
— Jonathan O'Keefe ???????? (@jonnybario) March 9, 2022
Google News