Russian open-wheel driver, Nikita Mazepin, gets to keep his F1 ride with Haas after his investigation. The 21-year old driver posted a video to his Instagram story where he, although his face isn’t seen, is shown groping a woman in the back seat of a car. Haas has announced he will still drive for the team in 2021. This didn’t go over well with the fans as they believe Mazepin’s punishment was a slap on the wrist after such an allegation.
Shortly after the video was taken down, Mazepin posted an apology, which since then has been deleted. Fans of F1 have created the hashtag #SayNoToMazepin and it has gained quite the following. Even more so after the teams announcement to keep the young driver. Since Haas’ F1 Team began, they’ve had funding issues. Some speculate that Mazepin’s financial backing is what was the deciding factor in him staying on the team.
Mazepin Is No Stranger to Controversy
This isn’t the first time that Mazepin has been in the spotlight. He racked up 11 penalty points for two of the four incidents he was involved in during a race last season in F2, just one point short of a racing ban. Mazepin has also had several run-ins with his fellow drivers. He left Callum Illot with a black eye in 2016 when he was in F3. He almost hit Yuki Tsunoda with a podium stand after a late race penalty dropped him to second place and giving Tsunoda the win.
In mine and many others opinion, Haas really dropped the ball on this. With F1 running with the #WeRaceAsOne initiative, this really negates that. It was made to create a positive influence on the racing community. By keeping a driver like Mazepin in F1 after something so controversial, it seems like they only created it to save face.
