Jeremy Clarkson has launched a Twitter tirade against Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, telling him to go back to Russia to race alone.
For several weeks, tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been escalating due to Russian troops incrementally appearing on the border, and yesterday morning Vladimir Putin, Russia’ president, ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
F1 held a meeting with the teams and drivers yesterday while they are all in Barcelona partaking in pre-season testing over the possible cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix which is due to be held in September.
Mazepin entered Formula 1 with Haas as a rookie last season, and his seat had been funded by Uralkali – a Russian potash producer owned by his father, Dmitry Mazepin.
He gained early criticism at the end of 2020 after a disturbing video of him groping a model was posted onto his Instagram story, and his performances in 2021 left a significant amount to be desired.
His seat now looks under threat after the Banbury-based squad dropped Uralkali as a sponsor and have removed all branding from their cars, trucks and motorhomes, as well as the blue and red colours that symbolise the Russian flag.
Sebastian Vettel has already said that he will be boycotting the 2022 Russian Grand Prix should it go ahead, while Max Verstappen affirmed that the sport should not be visiting countries that are at war.
Mazepin, before the invasion took place, stated that he did not see a reason why the race in Sochi shouldn’t go ahead, but since the Kremlin began their “unprovoked” attack on Ukraine, the 22-year-old told media that he does not “mix sport and politics.”
This earned him a lot of attention on social media, and Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz remarked on “Ted’s Notebook” after day two of testing yesterday that this is “about more than politics.”
Clarkson gave a much stronger rebuke, taking to Twitter to say: “Nikita Mazepin. You f****** retard. Go and race in Russia on your own. You’d still lose.”
Mazepin’s father, Dmitry, is closely associated with the Kremlin, and is understood by TASS – a Russian state agency – to be one of 37 businessmen that met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday.