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Nikita Mazepin of Russia and Hitech Grand Prix after practice before the Formula 2 Championship at Sochi Autodrom on September 25, 2020 in Sochi, Russia.
Photo of Joe Portlock – Formula 1
Formula 1 will meet with all 20 drivers when the season begins in Bahrain, to discuss the importance of them being “positive ambassadors” for the sport.
The news comes as F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali admits that the recent Nikita Mazepin groping scandal was “unacceptable”, and that the 2021 Haas rookie has been fined in a British court for running a red light last June. .
“I would say it was quite clear that what Mazepin did was not acceptable,” Domenicali said on Thursday (February 4).
“We need to make sure that in the discussions that we will have that they understand that we cannot joke about certain things. It is not possible.
“They are too important not to understand and accept that they are role models.”
The ‘discussions’ Domenicali refers to will follow a letter he wrote to GPDA President Alex Wurz, stressing “how important it is that drivers understand their value as positive ambassadors for F1.”
“Not only the sport, but the values that F1 is focused on,” said the Italian. “The ‘we run as one’ project, the diversity and sustainability projects. I invited them to a meeting, the objective is to have it in Bahrain, to discuss and share this opportunity,” added Domenicali.
Amid the fierce and ongoing campaign against Mazepin on social media, Haas boss Gunther Steiner says that Mazepin, 21, has “understood” the seriousness of his indiscretions.
“We solved it in private,” he told n-tv. “I will not go into details.
“It wasn’t right, Nikita apologized, he knows it’s wrong and to me that’s a sign that he understood.”
