Formula 1: Final Nikita Mazepin decision made for 2022

A formal announcement from Haas is set to confirm that Uralkali is out and Nikita Mazepin will not compete for the team in 2022 Formula 1 season.

After a week of rumors, a final decision has reportedly been made about the Formula 1 futures of Russian fertilizer company Uralkali and Nikita Mazepin, with Haas set to drop both ahead of the 2022 season.

This decision comes amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Nikita’s father Dmitry is the CEO of Uralchem. Uralchem holds a controlling stake in Uralkali.

Dmitry has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he was one of the oligarchs who met with him just after the invasion began.

It was indicated that Haas would be moving in this direction when they completely removed the Uralkali branding from the team, including the cars, ahead of the third and final day of the preseason testing session at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last week.

They later confirmed that they would be doing the same for next week’s preseason testing session at Bahrain International Circuit, further backing the idea that this is the end of the road for Uralkali and Mazepin.

There was always a chance that this would be the case, even after the FIA refused to ban Russian and Belarusian drivers from competing in the sport following the request of Ukraine’s motor racing federation.

A formal announcement from Haas is expected to come before the end of the week.

Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is believed to be on his way to replacing the 22-year-old Russian alongside Mick Schumacher in the second VF-22 for the upcoming 23-race season.

Multiple sources close to Haas have already congratulated them on signing Schumacher and Fittipaldi for the 2022 season, and Fittipaldi himself has been congratulated for landing the ride in what was set to be his third year as a reserve driver.

Fittipaldi did make two starts for the American team at end of the 2020 season when Romain Grosjean was sidelined following his fiery crash.

The 2022 season is scheduled to get underway with the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, March 20.