Nikita Mazepin is fed up with the “cancel culture” against Russia but does not want to speak about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Nikita Mazepin was removed from the Haas F1 team following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The team also removed its title sponsor Uralkali which is a Russian company owned by Mazepin’s father Dmitry Mazepin.
Haas replaced Mazepin with its former driver Kevin Magnussen in the 2022 season. Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many in the F1 community called for the Russian GP to be cancelled this year.
The FIA knocked out the Russian GP from its 2022 calendar but F1 was not the only sport to do so. UEFA and FIFA also boycotted the Russian national team and the clubs to play in the league.
Mazepin said, “I don’t agree with the sanctions and I intend to fight it, but perhaps now is not the right time. If you look at the whole situation against athletes in a general case it’s ”cancel culture” against my country.”
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Nikita Mazepin has sympathy for Ukraine
Furthermore, in an interview with the BBC, he was shown the images from Ukraine and Mazepin sympathised with it.
He said, “I live in the same world as you, although perhaps three/four hours away from the plane. It’s very painful to watch that on many levels.”
Today I am announcing the creation of a new foundation to help athletes who have been blocked from competing for political reasons. #WeCompeteAsOne
— Nikita Mazepin (@nikita_mazepin) March 9, 2022
Mazepin, however, does not want to speak out publicly about the war. “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 risks in saying anything about it. I can never satisfy everyone and therefore I will keep myself publicly quiet,” Mazepin concluded.
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