Formula 1: The ironic reaction to Nikita Mazepin being fired

The reaction of Formula 1 fans who are “upset” over Nikita Mazepin’s firing has been nothing shy of ironic, given how he was treated last year.

On Saturday morning, Haas confirmed the inevitable, announcing that title sponsor Uralkali and driver Nikita Mazepin had been dropped by the team ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this was always the most likely outcome. Nikita’s father, Dmitry, is the CEO of Uralchem, which holds a majority stake in Uralkali, and he has direct ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, the billionaire oligarch was called to meet with Putin amid the invasion.

Haas stripped the branding of the Russian fertilizer company from their cars ahead of the third and final day of preseason testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last Friday, and they announced plans to do the same for next week’s test at Bahrain International Circuit. Now they won’t have to worry about putting it back on.

Many have jumped to Nikita’s defense, claiming that he is “innocent” and shouldn’t be removed from Formula 1 for this reason.

How quickly we forget.

Before the 2021 season, those very fans didn’t want him in the sport at all, and for good reason. It was very obvious that funding was the only reason he had landed the seat, with his father’s company signing with Haas as the title sponsor.

Haas needed the money, so despite the fact that there were far more talented options available, Mazepin got the seat. No Mazepin, no Uralkali.

His relative lack of talent was on display quite early on, with rookie teammate Mick Schumacher consistently outperforming him in qualifying sessions and during races.

By the time the season had ended, he had finished in 21st place in the driver standings (in a series with just 19 other full-time drivers), with just one finish of higher than 17th. He had spun out 22 times in 21 races.

But even before he got in the car, there was controversy. Between his signing and the start of the 2021 season, the #WeSayNoToMazepin campaign began after Mazepin literally posted a video to his Instagram story of himself grabbing a woman’s breasts, with her trying to push him away and flipping him off.

The woman came to his defense when the criticism began, but further statements she made, and the fact that she later cut ties with him on social media, painted a murky picture of what really happened, with some even suggesting that she was paid off to defend him in order to prevent Haas from terminating his contract before the 2021 season began.

This wasn’t the first time that he had found himself — well, placed himself — at the center of controversy.

Whether it was punching a fellow driver in the face, recklessly driving into the P2 board out of frustration with a penalty, or using paddock passes to bribe a female fan for nudes, he had earned himself the title as “most hated driver in Formula 1” before competing in a single race.

So the sadness and outrage over him being cut before the 2022 season is quite ironic.

The only thing that should frustrate anybody is the fact that this is what it took for him to be cut. The proof is in the pudding that he never should have been here in the first place, yet Haas waited until they needed to cut his funding — over a literal war — to cut him.

To be fair to Mazepin, Haas deserve more criticism than anybody for effectively selling out for as long as they did. Had they cut him last year when they should have, this wouldn’t have been an issue. Yet here we are.

Is he directly responsible for what is going on right now? Of course not, and in that respect, he is innocent. But his father is directly tied to it, and it was his father’s money, which is no longer accepted by the team, that got him his ride. Put two and two together.

The fact that he was as good as gone with Uralkali out show how desperate Haas were last year when they were willing to overlook everything else — including poor performance and very little potential — to make sure they got his father’s check. That’s all there ever was to it, and this recent development proves it. While it may seem now like he got a raw deal and is “innocent” now, it happened the way it was supposed to happen, albeit not in a pleasant manner for anybody.