“There is a mandatory military service”– Nikita Mazepin clarifies rumours about his military service obligation

“There is a mandatory military service”– Nikita Mazepin talks about being obligated by Russia to serve the army for a time frame.

Earlier this month, Dmitry Mazepin- father of Haas driver Nikita Mazepin talked about the latter’s obligation to serve the Russian army and criticized the state apparatus for not thinking about the welfare of athletes.

Now, Nikita has clarified his position and claimed that the situation might not be that bad, and he may continue in F1 even with the military service.

“From my side, you know, the situation is very clear,” Mazepin said. “I study in university, and the way it works in Russia, there is a mandatory military service, and there are two ways of serving if you’re fit enough.

“Option one is finishing university and then going for a year. And option two is if you qualify to be fit enough in terms of your fitness results and in terms of your studying results, you can go on to something called like the elite army, which is served in a completely different way.”

“This is what I’m doing for two years already. And I’m obviously going to continue doing it for one more year to hopefully graduate as a reserve officer.”

Academic aspirations in the view

Meanwhile, Mazepin has also talked about his academic aspirations. The Russian race driver studied economics and languages through his initial master’s degree, which was also completed alongside his racing duties through GP3 and Formula 2 in recent years.

“Five days ago, I passed my final exam in university for finishing my first four years, and I’m moving on to get a second masters degree later in the coming two years.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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