Nikita Mazepin achieved an important victory in court on Wednesday. The Russian has been ruled in his favor by the European Court and the sanctions that the European Union had imposed on the former Formula 1 driver have been lifted. Due to the judge’s ruling, Mazepin can in principle make his return to F1.
At the beginning of 2022, thanks to the financial support of oil company Uralkali, of which his father Dmitry Mazepin is co-owner, Mazepin was about to start his second season with the American F1 team Haas. But shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Mazepin’s contract was torn up. In addition, he and his father, who is said to be a close acquaintance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were put on the European Union’s sanctions list.
For example, the former F1 driver was no longer allowed to enter the territory of EU member states, which made a racing career in Europe, let alone a return to F1, impossible. Mazepin found this decision unjust and has since been trying to have his name removed from the sanctions list. After several failed attempts, the Russian finally had success on Wednesday. The European Court has ruled in favor of the 25-year-old and his name can no longer be on the sanctions list.
Family ties are not enough
According to the judge, Mazepin was only placed on the list because he is the son of someone who is a close acquaintance of Putin. That in itself is not enough to keep his name on the list, the judge ruled. “The family connection with his father, Russian businessman Dmitry Mazepin, is not sufficient to consider him as connected to his father by common interests and therefore to maintain him on this list,” the statement said.
This is good news for Mazepin and he said in a short statement that he was happy with the judge’s ruling. ‘I feel extremely encouraged by today’s ruling and am grateful to the European Court for a fair trial in my case. This is certainly a crucial milestone,” the Russian is quoted by Reuters news agency.
