Guenther Steiner has put Jeremy Clarkson’s personal attack on Nikita Mazepin down to “rage” amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Haas driver Mazepin, whose seat was paid for by oligarch father Dmitry, now has an uncertain future after Uralkali – the Russian firm in which Dmitry holds shares – had its branding dropped by the team.
It is as yet uncertain whether the two parties will maintain a contractual relationship, but Grand Tour presenter Clarkson launched an expletive assault on the 22-year-old.
“Nikita Mazepin. You f****** retard. Go and race in Russia on your own. You’d still lose,” he tweeted on Friday.
Rich Energy CEO, William Storey, whose company sponsored the Haas team in 2019, responded by accusing his compatriot of bullying the young Russian to gain “populism.”
“The only retard here is a pot-bellied, imbecilic chinless wonder called Jeremy. Seeking populism & picking on a 22 year old merely exhibits his inadequacy. Clarkson is an embarrassment.
“Nikita Mazepin has more talent in his little finger,” he remarked.
Steiner revealed during the first week of pre-season testing in Barcelona last week that Haas would have to sort through some legal obstacles with Ukralkali this week, and can only assume Clarkson’s stinging comments were made in the heat of the moment.
“I heard about the tweet from Jeremy Clarkson about it,” he told GPFans.
“Maybe it was done in a moment of rage or something because it was quite direct.
“The best thing is to not look at what is there because at the moment, he has nothing to do with this.
“We just need to crack on and see where this ends up and work through it. Hopefully, he can keep his head up and keep on going.”
Formula 1 has responded to the crisis in Eastern Europe by stating that it is “impossible” to hold a race in Sochi this year, while FIA President Mohammed ben Sulayem confirmed the governing body is holding an emergency meeting today to discuss the future of Russian supericense holders.