Russia’s Nikita Mazepin binned off by Haas as replacement for seat ‘confirmed’

Nikita Mazepin has reportedly been axed by Haas who already have the replacement for his Formula One seat secured.

The Russian looks to have lost his spot following his home country's invasion of Ukraine.

He had been given the all clear to race under a neutral flag by the FIA earlier this week.

However, he was banned from featuring at this year's British Grand Prix after Motorsport UK announced a restriction on Russian or Belarusian drivers competing in the UK.

And now Haas have made the decision to remove Mazepin altogether and replace him with Pietro Fittipaldi, according to Sky Germany.

They claim reserve driver Fittipaldi will 'most likely' take over the cockpit with the 2022 season getting underway in roughly two weeks' time.

The Brazilian, who is the grandson of two-time Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, will also be behind the wheel during tests at Bahrain next week.

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner said last month that he would be the man they would turn to.

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"If Nikita couldn’t drive for one or another reason, the first call would go to Pietro," Steiner declared.

"Obviously, he [has been] with us for a few years, and then we would see what we do next.

"But I mean Pietro is always around with us for a reason. The last years, we needed a reserve driver, having COVID around, so he is always around.

"He knows the team, he knows the car to jump in for one day to the other. There is nobody better than Pietro around at the moment."

An official announcement is expected on the matter soon.

It would bring an end to Mazepin's F1 career after just one year.

He made the step up from Formula 2 to partner Mick Schumacher in 2021 but often struggled to keep pace with his team-mate.

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