Nikita Mazepin sparked outrage and condemnation earlier this month after he posted a video of him groping an Instagram model onto social media.
He quickly deleted the video from his Instagram story, but the damage had already been done and a petition calling for the Haas F1 Team to drop him was subsequently launched and secured over 40,000 signatures.
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And now, a poll conducted by Formula1News.co.uk has found that 88 percent of F1 fans believe the Haas F1 Team should drop Nikita Mazepin in response to the incident.
The poll, which asked 1,184 Formula1News.co.uk readers for their thoughts on the matter, is yet another indication of the F1 community’s anger at how the matter is being handled.
Following the incident, the Haas F1 Team condemned Mazepin’s actions and said they are dealing with the matter internally.
Meanwhile, the Russian racing driver posted an apology onto his Instagram story and on his Twitter profile.
However, last week, the tweet was deleted by Mazepin, before the rest of his tweets also vanished from his profile.
“I would like to apologise for my recent actions, both in terms of my own inappropriate behaviour, and the fact that it was posted on to social media,” Mazepin wrote in the now-deleted tweet and in a post uploaded to his Instagram story following the incident.
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“I am sorry for the offence I have rightly caused and to the embarrassment I have brought to Haas F1 Team.
“I have to hold myself to a higher standard as a Formula One driver and I acknowledge I have let myself and many people down. I promise I will learn from this,” the Russian racing driver added.
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