Nikita Mazepin says he’s lost “trust” in his former Haas Formula 1 team after it sacked him without warning in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The axed star, who was replaced by former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, also said he intends to set up a foundation to help Russian athletes banned from international competition due to the war.
Nikita and his father, Dmitry Mazepin, were subsequently specifically named and added to a European Union sanctions blacklist overnight owing to their close ties to Vladimir Putin.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSFor a driver with 22 starts, no points and a highest finish of 14th to his name, Nikita Mazepin has attracted an extraordinary amount of attention in his single year in Formula 1.
And a single year is almost certainly all he’s likely to get after he was summarily sacked by Haas on Saturday.
Sanctions levied against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine forced the issue, and a growing number of national motorsport bodies, including Motorsport Australia, have moved to ban Russian licence-holders.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSFormula 1 is shoring up its post-pandemic accounts with the announcement of a lucrative 11-race deal in Doha, but can you have too much of a good thing?
Lewis Hamilton notched up his 100th grand prix victory, but the milestone will give him only so much solace after failing to exact maximum damage on title rival Max Verstappen on a crucial weekend.
The host of the F1 Strategy Report joins the show to break down the Russian Grand Prix.
Joy for Lewis Hamilton after his 100th victory but heartbreak for Lando Norris after a key error let a maiden win wash away in the rain. Featuring Sky Sports F1 pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz.
Mick Schumacher talks about the scale of the jump from F2 to Formula 1 in his rookie year with the Uralkali Haas F1 Team, how he’s keeping his competitive fires burning in a backmarker team, growing up in the spotlight because of his father Michael and his thoughts on the ‘Schumacher’ Netflix documentary, while we review Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix won by Lewis Hamilton.
Now is the time for Lewis Hamilton to take his rightful place, throne, in the hall of fame — sit on his king of throne [sic]. This is Box of Neutrals, that’s our take.
Michael Lamonato, who runs the F1 Strategy Report and Box of Neutrals podcasts, joined the show to talk all things F1.
Lewis Hamilton has claimed his ton of grand prix victories after a dramatic wet-weather conclusion to the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton scored his 100th grand prix victory in a dramatic late-race deluge at the Russian Grand Prix to retake the championship lead from second-placed Max Verstappen.
The Briton had been engaged in a battle for the lead with polesitter Lando Norris in the late stages when rain suddenly arrived in Sochi, sprinkling the track with rain and then drenching the circuit in a downpour that turned the race on its head.
He and Norris both resisted switching to the intermediate tire with so few laps left to run, with Hamilton even ignoring a call from his pit wall to box on lap 48 before finally accepting the summons on the following lap, leaving the McLaren in the lead in deteriorating conditions.
Continue reading on RACERLando Norris will start on pole for the first time in his Formula 1 career after beating the field in a sensational soaked qualifying hour in Russia.
Valtteri Bottas consolidated his position as the fastest man in Sochi after sweeping Friday practice at the Russian Grand Prix. The Finn again had the measure of teammate Lewis Hamilton in a comfortable Mercedes one-two result, although the pair was more closely matched than in FP1, with Bottas leading the way by just 0.044s.
Hamilton was fastest in the first sector, but he slipped more than 0.3s to Bottas at the middle split, which he couldn’t recover in the final part of the lap. The Briton then had a strange collision with his front jackman, arriving too hot in his pit box and knocking him over. He later explained that he’d accidentally left on the “brake magic” brake bias setting.
In the unlikely but nonetheless contemplated event FP3 and qualifying cannot be run this weekend, with heavy rain forecast for Saturday, the results of second practice will set the grid for Sunday’s race, earning Bottas pole position.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas led the way in first practice for Mercedes at the Russian Grand Prix ahead of title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The Finn, fresh from his strong performance at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, went fastest with a time of 1m34.427s, beating teammate Hamilton by 0.211s.
Verstappen was third, just 0.016s further adrift, albeit with the championship leader using a second set of new soft tires late in the hour to set his best time, benefiting from rapidly improving conditions on the dusty street circuit. This flattered the Dutchman’s morning, and he ended the session with only 13 laps to his name and with his car on jacks in the garage.
It was an unusual example of a first practice session for the appearance of the red-walled rubber, which is usually held in its blankets for the more representative afternoon conditions. However, the high chance of rain on Saturday, including for qualifying, freed teams to use the fastest tire in what is ordinarily a session reserved for setup exploration, with every driver using at least one set each.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen leads the championship by just five points arriving in Sochi, but Lewis Hamilton is poised to take back control at a Mercedes favourite track.
With only eight rounds remaining and little to separate the title race, the pressure is ratcheting up for crash-prone protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Michael and Rob, two of the most gifted raw talents in modern Formula 1 podcasting, review the documentary Schumacher and embrace a 12-year-old meme as good content.
The 2020 Russian Grand Prix was no classic, but Lewis Hamilton’s inability to convert pole to victory was another illustration that the only team capable of beating Mercedes is Mercedes itself.