Watch: Former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin shares a social media post with UFC and MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov
Former Haas F1 driver Nikita Mazepin was recently seen hanging out with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Russian wrestler, a massively popular athlete around the world, famously defended his UFC championship from 2018 to 2021, the longest anyone has ever defended a title in the lightweight category.
In a recent Instagram post, the ex-Haas driver was seen posing for a photo with Khabib Nurmagomedov and two other acquaintances. The caption of the picture was simply the Russian flag, which was fitting since both Nikita Mazepin and Khabib Nurmagomedov hail from the country.
Though Nurmagomedov had a relatively short stint in the UFC, he has an undefeated win record of 29 out of 29 fight wins. Hence, he is considered one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. The Russian was added to the prestigious UFC Hall of Fame in 2022. Khabib Nurmagomedov is also a two-time combat sambo world champion.
Nikita Mazepin had a short run in Formula 1, during which he struggled quite a lot with Haas. He featured in 22 races, in which he was not able to score a single point. Mazepin was removed from the sport after just one year when Russia invaded Ukraine, due to the fact that his father, a Haas sponsor, had close ties with the Russian government.
Former Haas driver urges removal of sanctions against him as he aspires to return to F1
Back in April 2023, Haas reject Nikita Mazepin filed a court application urging Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly, to remove any sanctions against him in order to allow him to race freely again.
According to CTV News, part of the application stated:
“[Mazepin is a] young sportsman and professional motorsport driver who is in no way involved in the aggression suffered by Ukraine. It will be extremely difficult — if not impossible — for him to be recruited again as an F1 driver or as a driver in other motorsport championships.”
After being removed from F1, Mazepin competed in the Asian Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category. Though he raced for only two seasons, he won a race in Sepang.
The Russian is still finding ways to remove any restrictions on him imposed by various governments so that he can make a return to F1. Only time will tell whether the driver will ever return to the sport.