Helmut Marko questions bans on Russian athletes as he weighs in on Nikita Mazepin’s axing

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Helmut Marko has provided his thoughts after Nikita Mazepin lost his seat at Haas amid Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine. The Red Bull Racing advisor believes Mazepin rightly lost his place on the F1 grid, despite defending individual Russian athletes.

On Saturday, Haas made the inevitable announcement that they had cut all ties with title sponsor Uralkali, part-owned by Mazepin’s billionaire father, Dmitry.

And with that, Mazepin’s contract has also been terminated after backlash over Dmitry Mazepin’s presence at a meeting with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin just hours after launching the invasion.

It read: “Haas F1 team has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the title partnership of Uralkali and the driver contract of Nikita Mazepin.

“As with the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict.”

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In a recent interview, Marko was asked whether he enjoyed travelling around the world whilst the conflict in Ukraine was taking place.

And the Austrian F1 icon claimed he has previous war experience from the Yugoslav conflict in the 1990s, but it’s incomparable to the current threat.

Speaking to German site Sport24 Auto, he said: “I was hoping that the Corona madness would slowly be over. Now comes the war.

“I witnessed the Yugoslav war 30 years ago up close. But that’s a completely different dimension now with this brutality and the threat of using nuclear weapons.”

Mazepin’s F1 exit was widely expected, given his seat was Russia-backed and his father’s close ties to Putin.

And whilst he doesn’t think individual athletes should be held responsible for Putin’s orders, Marko claims Haas was justified for dropping the 22-year-old.

“I think that the Russian GP is justified. Excluding Mazepin is justified insofar as his cockpit is financed with Russian money. National teams should also be excluded,” Marko continued.

“But individual athletes? Hello, there must be no personal liability. Or do you also want to forbid Anna Netrebko to sing? In any case, I would let athletes who clearly distance themselves from Putin start.”

Mick Schumacher’s partner for the 2022 season remains unknown, less than two weeks before the campaign gets underway.

But team principal Guenther Steiner will undoubtedly want to welcome a new driver as soon as possible to minimise further pre-season disruption. A number of drivers are being considered for the seat, including Pietro Fittipaldi and Antonio Giovinazzi.

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