Former F1 star claims being ‘faster’ than Schumacher amid bitter exit

Nikita Mazepin has said that he is attempting to stay fit in case any more opportunities in Formula 1 should arise, after insisting he had the pace to succeed.

The Russian racing driver was dropped from the Haas F1 team just weeks before the start of the 2022 F1 season, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In April 2022, Mazepin - along with father Dmitry Mazepin - was placed on both the UK and EU's list of sanctions, for his family's apparent links with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

While the 24-year-old has been able to try and revive his racing career by taking part in the Asian Le Mans Series, a future in F1 looks to be non-existent for the man who drove the 2021 season with Haas, failing to pick up a single point.

Haas' driver problems

Now, Mazepin has said that he is yet to give up on his career, and that he was faster than his team-mate Mick Schumacher before the start of the 2022 season.

Schumacher himself was dropped from the team at the end of that particular year, after a series of poor performances and costly mistakes.

“I am making sure that I am top fit for the moment when the door to F1 opens again,” Mazepin said to the Russian portal Championat.

“On the last test day before the start of the 2022 season, I was faster than Mick Schumacher,” he defended.

When asked about whether or not watching F1 hurts since his exit from the sport, he said:

“Especially in Europe, because I'm close. And I'm still not allowed to go there.”

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