Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner says there is no guarantee that Russian Nikita Mazepin will remain part of the team going forward, insisting his situation “needs to be resolved”.
Mazepin’s future with Haas has been cast into doubt following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this week.
Haas’ title sponsor Uralkali, which is owned by Mazepin’s father Dmitry, had its logos stripped from the VF-22’s livery for Friday pre-season session in Barcelona.
Steiner says Haas is hoping to settle its predicament with Uralkali in the coming weeks.
“Nobody planned this so we had to take a decision as we have more partners now, and this was the right decision,” Steiner said.
“There is no setback for the competition side, none at all, we just need to go through the commercial issues, we will go through that in the next weeks, but as for the to-do list, nothing more.”
Steiner added that there exists the possibility that Haas parts ways with Mazepin, which would likely follow any potential termination with Uralkali.
“It [Mazepin’s future] needs to be resolved, I said it before, not everything depends from us here what is happening,” Steiner said.
“There’s governments involved, I have no power over them, and we also need to see how the situation develops in Ukraine.
“He puts a tough face on it. For sure it bothers him, his own country, Russia. About guarantees, no guarantees anywhere, as I said before we need to see how this develops.
“There’s more than F1 teams here, there’s governments, so I have no guarantees from that side.”
On Friday, Mazepin released a short statement on social media that read: “It’s a difficult time and I am not in control over a lot of what is being said and done.
“I’m choosing to focus on what I CAN control by working hard and doing my best for my Haas F1 Team. My deepest thanks for your understanding and support.”
F1 also communicated a message on Friday, stating that it was “impossible” to race in Russia this year under the ongoing circumstances.
The Russian Grand Prix was scheduled to be the 17th round of the 2022 season, held in September.
Simple. Sell the team to Andretti and let Herta take his place.