Nikita Mazepin, the Russian Formula One driver who had his contract with American racing team Haas terminated in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions European and world bodies slapped on Russian and Belarussian athletes, has voiced his displeasure over the bans.
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“I don’t agree with being in the sanctions,” stated the former Formula One driver.
“I’ve said previously that I intend to fight it, perhaps now is not the right time because if you look at the whole situation that’s happening against athletes in the general case, its cancel culture against my country,” he said citing the non-inclusion of Russian participants in multiple sporting events across the spectrum.
In mass condemnation of the act of offence by Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, world unions and global entities have curtailed the participation of Russian and Belarussian athletes in various sports including football and formula one.
Haas racing ended its partnership with Russian company Uralkali owned by the racer’s father Dimitry Mazepin, an oligarch said to have close ties to Putin and a businessman who has provided the Russian state with economic help over the years, a couple of days prior to the decision they took to exclude Nikita Mazepin from their team roster.
When quizzed about his reaction to the pictures coming out of Ukraine depicting civilian casualties and war atrocities, the former Formula One driver said that the images were painful to watch on a fundamentally humanitarian level.
“I live in the same world as you, perhaps three or four hours away from each other by plane, it is painful to watch on so many levels,” sympathised the former Haas driver.
However, the 23-year-old refrained from making any public statement on the issue about his feeling.
“My feelings, obviously changed as a human being, and as a person that wants to live in a very peaceful world, but I will be honest with you, I see tremendous risk in saying anything at all about this case because I will never satisfy everyone and therefore I will keep myself publicly quiet,” concluded Mazepin.
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