Sakhir (dpa) – Nikita Masepin dodges questions about connections between his father and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Just four days ago, the Moscow native was Mick Schumacher’s Formula 1 stable rival with the US team Haas.
The 23-year-old has now lost his job in the motorsport premier class and explains his view of the termination in an opening statement lasting more than five minutes.
“Is there no place at all for neutrality in sport?” Masepin wants to know at a video conference in Moscow and stretches back to the 1980s, when several nations did not take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. “Does an athlete not only have the right to an opinion, but also the right to keep that opinion out of the public space?”
No return to Haas
On the day before the start of the official test drives in Bahrain, Masepin did not position himself on the Ukraine war. He withdraws this opinion from the public space. Instead, he reserves the right to take legal action against his expulsion. “It’s good to keep your options open,” says Masepin, sitting behind a black desk somewhere in Moscow. At the same time, he makes it clear: “I don’t want to go back to a place where I’m not wanted.”
This place is Haas – and a return is out of the question anyway. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the racing team ended the contract with Masepin as the second driver on Saturday. The team also parted ways with Russian title sponsor Uralkali. Masepin’s father, Dmitri, is a co-owner of the mining company and is said to have close ties to Putin.
“As for the current conflict, I have stated my views and my point of view in my statement,” said Nikita Masepin. In fact, he didn’t. Rather, he finds that his expulsion is “not fair”. “There was no legal reason that would have enabled the team to terminate my contract.”
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No contact with the team boss?
A chronology of events: On March 1, the World Motor Sport Council announced that a Russian driver like Masepin would be allowed to start as a neutral athlete under the “FIA flag” “until further notice”. On March 4, the world motorsport association Fia declared that Russian drivers had to sign a code of conduct in which, among other things, they clearly distanced themselves from Russia’s actions in the Ukraine.
“I wanted to start as a neutral athlete,” says Masepin and says about the declaration of commitment: “While we were going through the letter and checking options because it contained many clauses, I received the termination of my contract early the next morning.” He didn’t have time to say “yes, I was just fired.” But the question Masepin has in mind is: Can someone like him even be considered neutral?
According to Masepin’s account, he found out about his Formula 1 exit through the official press release. He had no contact at all with team boss Günther Steiner. “I think I should have had more support,” Masepin said to Haas, who was delayed in testing in Bahrain due to transportation issues. “I never imagined that I could have lost my seat so early.”
Sponsor wants money back
Masepin wants to “close the chapter with clarity and start the next one with hope.” Before that, however, his threatened lawsuit is pending. And Uralkali is by no means pleased with the “unilateral” termination of sponsorship. The company is requesting “immediate reimbursement of amounts received from Haas” for this season. According to the company, it wants to protect “its interests within the framework of the applicable legal procedures”.
The reimbursement will flow into a joint foundation with Nikita Masepin. “We Compete As One” wants to support athletes who are excluded from top-level competitions for political reasons “outside their control”.
“Our door is open to everyone,” said Masepin, announcing his first aid project: the Russian athletes who were not allowed to take part in the Winter Paralympics in Beijing.