Nikita Mazepin has claimed he received no warning that he had lost his Haas Formula 1 seat prior to the team’s announcement.
Haas released a statement last week stating that it had terminated Mazepin and title sponsor Uralkali’s contract with immediate effect in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Team owner Gene Haas said his team’s links to Russia had seen it come under “intense criticism” that had become “overwhelming” for the outfit and its other sponsors.
Following Haas’ announcement, Mazepin issued his own statement on social media, expressing his disappointment at how the American-owned team handled the situation.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mazepin revealed he had been willing to agree to the FIA’s conditions it had outlined for Russian drivers to compete in motorsport events, only to learn he’d been sacked when Haas issued a press release.
“I have been aiming and planning to compete as a neutral,” Mazepin said, as quoted by The Race.
“This was firstly allowed by the FIA, the decision that they took, and I without any issues was happy to agree to that decision.
“However, the night before my contract was terminated, there was an additional letter which was made [by the FIA].
“By the time that we were processing that letter and looking at options, because there were a lot of clauses in it, the next morning early on I received the termination of my contract.
“There was no time to even say ‘yes’ to [the second letter], I have just been fired.
“I learned about the firing the same time as it had been released to the press. And, I’d like to think I’m a young man at 23, and I was not ready for it. I did not receive any hint, or any support to say ‘you know, this is the decision we’ve taken, it’s going to go live in 15 minutes, just be ready for it’.
“Obviously I had a lot of messages from people, and I just learned at the same time as you guys did.”
Mazepin said he hadn’t been in contact with team boss Gunther Steiner before he received notice that his contract had been terminated, insisting there was no indication from Steiner or the team regarding its eventual decision.
“I haven’t spoken to Gunther since I left Barcelona on the third day of testing,” said Mazepin.
“Gunther gave me no information about what decision the team is going to take, aside from the information that he has been giving my manager up to March 4.
“And then the press release came, I read it and found out that my contract had been terminated.
“But I did not speak to him personally.”
While Mazepin said he would keep his options open should he consider taking legal action, he has no desire to return to Haas should he return to F1 in the future, admitting he no longer “trusts” the team.
“We will look at it and decide what we do,” Mazepin said.
“One thing to add is, I don’t want to go back to places which don’t want me.
“That’s the key to discuss [challenging] the termination or not.”
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