Nikita Mazepin has spoken for the first time after being fired from Haas F1 Team as a consequence of the attack carried out by Russian president Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. On the same occasion this Saturday, title partner Uralkali, a Russian chemicals company owned by Mazepin's dad Dmitry was dropped.

The Russian driver was hurt the most by having found out about his dismissal at the same time as the public, as he hadn't been in touch with people from the American team since the invasion:

“I do not want to be at a team that doesn’t want me. Formula One is a dangerous sport and you have to rely on the team you are working with. It is a question of safety, and it is fair to say I don’t have that trust in them," he said today during his press conference.

"F1 is a unique sport because it is very much about team building. And this chemistry that you have ongoing between your male and female colleagues to get the car in a position where it can do well, and I was very disappointed because the way it was handled."

"I have not heard any information from the team ever since this happened. And I learned about the firing of me the same time as it had been released to the press."

Some of his colleagues, including former Hitech F3 teammate George Russell, reached out to him to "show their support" after his sacking with messages that were "nothing political but just on a personal level – to keep my head up because athletes have been broken and lives have been destroyed after a decision like that.”

"I'd like to think I'm a young man at 23, and I was not ready for it. I didn't receive any hint or any support to say that this is a decision we've taken, it's going to go live in 15 minutes, just be ready for it."

Mazepin won't shy away from taking legal action against Haas: “I was very disappointed with the way it was handled. I was told if the FIA allowed me to compete on their rules, and I agreed to them, there would be no actions to remove me from the seat."

He went on to explain that the FIA has discussed twice on allowing Russian and Belarusian drivers to compete. The first time, in an online vote, it had been decided to allow the athletes involved to race under a neutral flag:

“I was ready to agree with this and consider myself neutral. When they added an additional letter which I had to sign, I did not look at it because my contract had already been terminated."

“It has been four days since I was sacked and I can say there is nobody out there to protect athletes who end up in this position and I want to be the first one to help," he added, announcing the foundation of "We Compete As One".

The organisation has been issued in order to provide support in multiple ways, -legal, psychological "to cope with the sense of loss and emptiness", and in finding a new job, to all-around athletes affected by the measures, including Russian Paralympics.

It will allegedly be run on the sponsorship money Uralkali had paid to Haas, which have been asked back today in a statement issued by the Russian compan, hinting to the possibility of taking up legal action as well:

"Uralkali shall request the immediate reimbursement of the amounts received by Haas. The refund from Haas and the remaining part of Uralkali's sponsor financing for 2022 will be used to establish the We Compete As One athlete support foundation."

"Uralkali intends to protect its interests in line with applicable legal procedures and reserves its rights to initiate judicial proceedings, claim damages and seek repayment of the significant amounts Uralkali had paid for the 2022 Formula One season."

However challenging it might be, Mazepin doesn't believe his F1 experience has already come to an end, after a pointless rookie season concluded in twenty-first place driving an underdeveloped car:

“I didn’t imagine the situation of losing my drive would happen so soon. But I absolutely do not see Formula One as a closed chapter. I am going to stay in race condition and I will be ready to take on an opportunity if it comes," he hopefully concluded.