'Mazepin withdraws appeal, no involvement from Rich Energy'

Nikita Mazepin will make his Formula 1 debut with Haas in 2021. A debut that was almost inevitable, because father Dmitry was willing to do a lot to make it happen in recent years. He was even on the verge of buying a team. Now that that is no longer necessary, those plans also seem to be off the table.

A few years ago, father Mazepin was a direct competitor of Lawrence Stroll in the fight for the takeover of Force India. With his company Uralkali he hoped to secure his son's future in Formula 1.

However, a deal fell through despite Mazepin being convinced he had made a higher offer than Stroll. Uralkali therefore filed a lawsuit two years ago against FRP Advisory, the party overseeing the sale of Force India. Uralkali was initially unsuccessful and so he appealed.

However, according to Thomas Maher, Irish journalist for FormulaSpy, Uralkali have now dropped the appeal. In addition, Uralkali is said to have debunked last week's rumours about Rich Energy's involvement in the attempt to buy Force India.