Formula One

[Painterdave]

24 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

At least he would get pole position and win if the car holds up for a few mins.

I don't know the be a lot of pressure on the car being in first position all the way

[exeterjeep]

His pit stops could be really careful, no unsafe releases on 3 wheels.

[exeterjeep]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60586914

...

Russian drivers have been banned from competing in the UK by Britain's national motorsport authority.

Motorsport UK will refuse to recognise licenses of competitors from the Russian federation until further notice.

It means Nikita Mazepin cannot race in the British Grand Prix even if he continues to be part of the Haas team.

Mazepin's father Dmitry provides financial backing to Haas and is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[exeterjeep]

Although this is posted on the BBC F1 page, I think this decision will apply to any Russian in all levels of UK motorsport sanctioned/controlled events. So I can imagine it applies to events such as BTCC/F3 etc..- if there are any Russians in the UK competing at that level.

[jep]

Great stuff by Motorsport UK. Chelsea FC fans have called this all wrong, they should boycott the club until Abramovich sells.....rumours a Swizz is interested (frying pan and fire springs to mind). Everton shifting position today also.

Extraordinary times calls for extraordinary measures. 

Justin

[pete]

If mazepin is on a Russian passport then he will automatically be banned from a lot of countries

[NedaSay]

Not that I disagree with you guys but hum i'll focus on the contractual cause for his dismissal, Mazepin is a pay driver, due to current context (Uralkali money is unable to leave Russia legally, I assume) therefore he can't pay, as a result he cannot  pay for his seat in the car. (Actually I bet he could thanks to a few offshore accounts he has access to thanks his daddy but that is another story.)

Haas F1 Team is set to receive from FOM $70m USD, their budget is around $120m (rumoured) so they have to find $50m that is an amount that HAAS Automation can manage quite easily, especially considering 1&1 /Ionos are providing  $7m to $10m.  Steiner said he could go hunt for more sponsorship money if needed,  so if he gets another smaller sponsor the company will be in good standing ; they saved loads of cash last year so they must already be in good standing.

Besides FOM will make sure they are ok. Haas f1 owns an F1 franchise worth $200m, Mazepin's money is no longer necesary.

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by NedaSay

[NedaSay]

The contract with the Russian GP promoter has been unilaterally terminated by F1. We knew they were not racing in F1 this year, well F1 may never race in Russia in the distant future or ever again.

[stephenwhyte]

No loss👍

[pete]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17835821/nikita-mazepin-sacked-haas-russia-f1/

[NedaSay]

It is not confirmed yet! However some team partners (1&1, Ionos, Home Deluxe and Cyrus watches) have been activating quite a bit already, mostly around Mick S. but also around Guenther Steiner and also... Pietro Fittipaldi . As anticipated some team partners are likely to step up at least partially to make for the shortfall. Haas will have no real problem compensating I would not mind a return to the black, red and silver livery.

[exeterjeep]

Nikita Mazepin: Haas end driver's contract & partnership with Russian chemicals company

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60630464

Russian driver Nikita Mazepin has been sacked by the Haas team as a result of his country's invasion of Ukraine.

The US-based outfit have also terminated the contract of their title sponsor, the Russian chemicals company Uralkali.

Uralkali is part-owned by Mazepin's billionaire father Dmitry, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, through his company Uralchem.

[C8RKH]

Yes, and Marzipan is throwing his toys out and saying it's not fair. Yeah you shitty cake covering, try telling that to the innocent children being bombed by your government and country men. The entitled twit doesn't have the empathy or decency to see the bigger picture. No loss at all to anyone.

[jep]

FIA need to follow suit. Not that any other formula would sign him but FIA need to show solidarity, though with a president from UAE, perhaps politics is mudding the waters.

Justin

 

[NedaSay]

The Uralkali case is closed. Haas f1 Team have done their due diligence. Nikita Mazepin is a collateral victim of the conflict but if he doesn't get that the optics are bad he has more serious issues... Which were alluded to by Croft during a recent Ted's Notebook where he describes Mazepin's behaviour as "flippant".  I think that the press release could have been worded a tad better but that is just semantics. The fact that Mazepin does not understand that the decision was always going to be unilateral is confusing. Mazepin always appeared very entitled and oblivious to the influence of external factors and the consequences of his own acts. I hope Pietro Fittipaldi gets the seat but money may talk again and I don't think he can bring any.

[exeterjeep]

A bit biased view of what happened to Masi..

Christian Horner accuses Mercedes of 'bullying' behaviour leading to Michael Masi's removal

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60651647

"That's tantamount to bullying. It's passively aggressive."

[PaulCP]

I am coming to the conclusion that Horner is so obsessed with Mercedes that it is affecting his ability to offer rational statements.

Since everything is everyone else’s fault and Horner is squeaky clean (according to Horner’s mindset) why the food doesn’t the media remind him of his own famous words “you only need 1 racing lap Micheal”

The guy has become the biggest fcukwit you are ever going to come accross.

[pete]

You can't just ignore the fact that mercedes did put considerable pressure on the FIA to sack Masi and Hamilton threatening to 'retire' if he wasn't

[Bravo73]

3 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

A bit biased view of what happened to Masi..

Verstappen said much the same recently. 

Maybe it’s reflective of the Redbull psyche now that their ‘man on the inside’ has gone?

[PaulCP]

40 minutes ago, pete said:

You can't just ignore the fact that mercedes did put considerable pressure on the FIA to sack Masi and Hamilton threatening to 'retire' if he wasn't

Not ignoring Mercedes and Hamilton’s actions of putting pressure on the FIA but no one can ignore the circumstances as to why Mercedes and Hamilton have reacted like they have.

As with many things in life there is usually a cause and effect scenario. If RB hadn’t put the pressure on Masi to find that “1 racing lap” by breaking/bending the rules then he would still be here as race director for the coming season.

[pete]

2wrongs don't make a right

[PaulCP]

But 2 negatives make a positive, hence he’s out 😛

[Bravo73]

1 hour ago, pete said:

You can't just ignore the fact that masi broke several rules in order to gift Redbull the driver’s title

EFA 😜

[pete]

So we are ignoring mercedes part in this. 

[EldonZ]

I really think it comes down to a trust issue. He made a decision to allow the lapped cars by but did not carry out the complete rule of letting all of the lap cars by. If he had done this, I believe it would not have looked as bad. I've seen many races effected by late caution flags that ends up with the fastest car not winning the race. I am fine with that. That is Lady Luck. What I did not like is that the rule of unlapping cars was only partially followed. This is where he made his "Big Mistake". This is where he has lost the trust of doing the correct action with no thought of bias.

Later,
Eldon