Formula 1 News: Mazepin has EU sanctions lifted, heading to Europe (2nd Update)

(GMM) Axed former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin has “plans”, now that the door to Europe has been re-opened to him.

Two weeks ago, sanctions imposed on the 25-year-old due to his father’s links to Vladimir Putin were finally lifted, meaning the Russian can now freely travel to Europe.

Tass news agency says Switzerland has now followed suit by lifting the country’s own set of sanctions against Mazepin, who was sacked by Haas at the outbreak of the 2022 Ukraine-Russia war.

“I am certainly happy about this news,” Mazepin said.

“The fight lasted a very long time, and one can say that justice has prevailed. I can announce that this week Switzerland also removed me from its sanctions list. This is a big victory for me.

“I will definitely tell you about my future plans, but a little later,” he added.

EU ambassadors are planning to remove former Russian Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin from the list of sanctions later this week, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Sept. 9, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.

Nikita Mazepin, a son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, won a case in the EU’s General court to have the sanctions against him lifted. He has nevertheless remained on the general list, as the decision applies only to the previous period and Brussels has updated the lists according to new criteria since that, according to the court.

“In the context of the sanctions’ review, the EU Council decided not to renew the listings of two individuals and remove five deceased persons from the list,” the Council confirmed in a press release.

As well as Mazepin, the other name dropped from the list was Violetta Prigozhina, the mother of former Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in August last year.

The EU Council confirmed that those still on the sanctions list face travel restrictions, frozen assets, and a ban on making certain payments.

The EU’s General Court on Wednesday handed a win to Russian former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin, overturning EU sanctions imposed against him as part of the bloc’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The European Union said it had added Mazepin, 25, to its sanctions list due to his association with his father, Dmitry, an influential businessman who it said was the main sponsor of his son’s activities as a racing driver.

The European Union had described Dmitry Mazepin as “a member of the closest circle” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The court said Mazepin had stopped being a driver for the Haas F1 racing team, meaning the EU was wrong to keep the athlete on its sanctions list after he quit the team.

It argued that putting Mazepin on the sanction list – simply because of the association with his father – was wrong.

“The General Court recalls that the ‘association’ criterion, applied in respect of Mr Nikita Mazepin, covers persons who are, generally speaking, linked by common interests.

“In accordance with settled case-law, that criterion implies the existence of a link going beyond a family relationship, established in the light of a set of indicia sufficiently specific, precise and consistent.

“In the circumstances of the present case, the General Court holds that the Council did not discharge its burden of proof to establish such a link.

“The association between Mr Nikita Mazepin and his father is in no way established from an economic or capital perspective or by the existence of common interests linking them at the time when the maintaining acts were adopted.”

“I am hugely encouraged by today’s ruling and grateful to the European Court for a fair trial of my case,” Mazepin said in a statement e-mailed by one of his aides. “This is certainly a crucial milestone.”

Mazepin has also challenged EU and Canadian sanctions as part of his attempt to return to F1.

He currently competes in the Asian Le Mans series, a lesser-known racing league staging competitions in the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.