Haas Uralkali’s titular sponsor has threatened to withdraw his support from the team during the 2021 Formula One season in an internal dispute over Nikita Mazepin’s car.
Netflix’s new Drive To Survive series, due to arrive next week, reveals how Mazepin’s father, Dmitry, the owner of Uralkali, warned the team that he would support them if they did not change the chassis between his son and teammate Mick Schumacher.
Mazepin and his father began to raise doubts about the tie between his chassis and Schumacher’s, which grew during the first races of the season. Mazepin was constantly overtaken by his teammate and finished behind him.
“It’s the same car,” Haas director Günther Steiner told his driver at one point. “As much as you believe it isn’t, it’s the same car.”
Review: Review of the fourth season Drive to Survive – Still as fun, flawed and inevitable as everHowever, Mazepin’s camp remains unconvinced. In exchange for team adviser Jesper Carlsen at the Spanish Grand Prix, Dmitry Mazepin warned: “If it does not change, I will send an official letter that we stop funding and stop competing.”
“It will be a huge money problem,” Mazepin continued. “And they will decide what to do, because we will not keep this, ‘let’s do, let’s do, let’s try, let’s try.’ We have already tried [for] three races and if we eliminate Uralkali, we stop racing. Change cars. Everyone knows that someone has an advantage. “
Carlsen advised Steiner on Mazepin’s warning that he would “issue an official letter” to “withdraw” from Formula One because he “thinks there is a difference between cars.”
Advertising Become a RaceFans supporter without ads
During last year’s two races in Austria, Nikita Mazepin made public comments that he drove a heavier chassis than his teammate. Mazepin received a new chassis for the second half of the season, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix, three months after the Spanish race.
Last year, Steiner confirmed that one of his chassis was heavier than the other, but said it was rotated between the two drivers.
Asked by the program’s creators if he was worried that Mazepin would withdraw Uralkali’s support, Steiner said: “I don’t want to go there for an interview.”
Haas has launched its car for the 2022 season again with the Uralkali brand and logo. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the team removed the brand for the last day of testing, as well as removing it from their car dealership at Circuit de Catalunya.
Haas has not yet confirmed Uralkali’s status in the team until the end of the season. The Hitech GP youth team, previously sponsored by Uralkali, no longer bears its logos this year.
Become a RaceFans supporter
RaceFans is managed in part thanks to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £ 1 per month or £ 12 per year (or the same in whatever currency you use), you can help cover the cost of setting up, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future.
Become a RaceFans supporter today and browse the site without ads. Sign up or learn more through the links below:
2021 F1 season
View all articles for the 2021 F1 season