Mick Schumacher gets a new team-colleague in Formula 1: The US team Haas has separated from his Russian driver Nikita Mazepin (23), as the racing team announced on Saturday. In addition, the Russian mining company Uralkali, where Masepins is a billion-dental father Dmitri’s majority shareholder, is no longer the main sponsor of the team.
Sponsoring should have introduced Haas about 40 million euros per year.
“The Haas F1 team has decided to dissolve the partnership with Uralkali and the contract with Nikita maepin with immediate effect,” says in the statement: “Like the entire Formula 1 is the team shocked and affected by the invasion in Ukraine and Hopes for a peaceful end of the conflict. “
Who becomes Schumacher’s new teammate, had Haas initially unanswered. The favorite is Pietro Fittipaldi. The 25-year-old Brazilian, grandson of the two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, is so far test and substitute driver at Haas. In the last two races of the season 2020 he replaced the French Romain Grosjean after his fire accident.
Team boss Günther Steiner had recently removed the Russian colors and the Uralkali logo from Haas Boliden because of the Russian attack on Ukraine on Ukraine on the last day of the test drives. From next Thursday, further test drives are at Bahrain, where the new season starts on March 20.
The Motorsport World Association Fia had allowed Russian drivers to participate in FIA competitions such as the Formula 1 World Championship despite the Russian invasion in Ukraine as a neutral athletes – under the condition that “they expressly comply with the FIA principles of peace and commit political neutrality “.
The British automotive association, however, spoke a complete ban on teams, drivers and officials from Russia and Belarus. A start maepin at the tenth season race on 3 July in Silverstone would have been excluded without the separation of Haas.
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