Mazepin's loss of his F1 career has set him back by "several million."

      Nikita Mazepin asserts that the sudden end to his Formula 1 career has cost him "several million dollars." The Russian driver, who was supported by his father's company Uralkali, was dismissed by Haas at the onset of the Ukraine conflict and was even blocked from racing elsewhere due to being specifically named in European Union sanctions.

      Afterward, the 26-year-old challenged the sanctions and ultimately triumphed. "According to European constitutional law, you can’t just sanction a person," he shared with sports.ru. "The language indicated that I was linked to my father's business activities." His father, Dmitry Mazepin, has strong ties to Vladimir Putin.

      "My father is a successful entrepreneur who built a business from the ground up and is a significant taxpayer in Russia," Nikita stated. "The (Russian) state, in the eyes of Europe, supposedly uses tax revenue to fund actions punishable by the European Union. However, over the past two and a half years, we have clarified that there is me on one side and my father on the other.

      "We are distinct individuals, with no shared business interests. The mere existence of family ties does not justify the European courts imposing sanctions on me. That is why they were lifted."

      Mazepin acknowledges that his chances of returning to F1 are very low. So, what is the financial impact of this entire situation? "I lost a long-term contract with Haas," he explained. "It included quite significant sums that would have compounded over the years. I believe it would have been several million dollars.

      "I also lost certain European properties when my assets were frozen, and I haven't recovered them after they were unfrozen." Reports indicate that one of the properties he lost was a villa in Italy.