A court decision made on Wednesday said that the European Union (EU) couldn’t justify keeping Nikita Mazepin, a former Haas F1 racer, on a list of people facing sanctions because Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Before, Mazepin and his father Dmitry were singled out for restrictive measures, like freezing funds and bans from entering EU countries. This happened right after Haas dropped Mazepin from their team just before the 2022 season due to the invasion.
Mazepin, who’s now racing in the Asian Le Mans Series, has been trying to get off sanction lists worldwide, but without success.
But now, the EU has changed its mind. They said there wasn’t enough evidence to link Mazepin to his father’s actions beyond family ties. Even though his father’s company, Uralkali, sponsored Mazepin’s racing before, it doesn’t matter now that he’s not with Haas anymore.
The General Court issued a statement, saying that putting Mazepin on the sanctions list just because of his father was a mistake. They argued that there wasn’t enough proof of a connection beyond family ties.
Mazepin welcomed this decision, but it’s unlikely to change much for his chances of returning to Formula 1.
