LONDON, (Reuters) – Yesterday Russian Formula One rookie Nikita Mazepin said he made a ‘huge mistake’ at an incident last year where he was filmed grabbing a female passenger in the back of a car.
The 22-year-old player faced a barrage of questions about the issue as his Haas team launched their new car and announced that Uralkali’s father of fertilizer billionaire Mazepin’s father had become the sponsor of the new title.
Posting the video clip on Instagram attracted widespread condemnation.
He already had something of a bad boy reputation for his track behavior, especially punching British junior series competitor Callum Ilott in the face in 2016 at an event that pulled off a racing suspension.
“It happened that I made a huge mistake,” Mazepin said of the December incident, adding that he was not pleased with his behavior. “I’ve taken responsibility for it, I’ve learned from it and I’m looking forward to a clean year ahead.”
Asked what he had actually learned, he said he recognized that he had to set an example as an F1 driver. He added that he was not the one who posted the video.
Asked about his track record and getting into trouble with stewards, Mazepin said that wouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s not something I’m afraid because I’m confident that won’t happen,” he said. “I take a lot of time to go through the regulations, study them, understand where that fine line is.”
As for his father’s finances, and accusations that he was only in F1 because of the money, Mazepin said he hadn’t really bothered.
“I’m proud of my family, I’m proud of my dad and I’m not taking this in a negative way,” he added.
“It’s a challenge that I’m testing myself in Formula One and I’m going to do it.”
Mazepin said he was still in discussion about how it would be distributed in races, with Russian athletes banned from competing under their national flag at world championship level as a result of sanctions by the Anti-Doping Agency World (WADA).
The governing body of Formula One, the FIA, is a signatory of the WADA code.
Haas car’s new uniforms are in Russian flag colors, with the front wing featuring horizontal bars of white, blue and red.