The Haas Formula 1 team has announced it has terminated its contract with Nikita Mazepin and title sponsor Uralkali with immediate effect as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian forces ordered by President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which has now lasted a week and has resulted in the deaths of 752 civilians, according to the Washington Post.
The invasion has been condemned by Western countries, with Russia being banned from countries around the world.
Sports authorities have also moved in recent days to ban Russian athletes and sporting events, although the F1 governing body has so far only banned Russian and Belarusian drivers from competing under their national flag.
During pre-season F1 testing in Barcelona, when war broke out in Ukraine, Haas discontinued his Uralkali branding cars and Mazepin's future remains unclear given his family ties to Putin.
But on Saturday morning, Haas announced that he had parted ways with both Russian chemical giant Uralkali and Mazepin.
A brief statement from the team read: "The Haas F1 team has chosen to terminate Uralkali's title partnership and Nikita Mazepin's driver contract, with immediate effect.
"Along with the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes a speedy and peaceful end to the conflict."
Haas has yet to provide further updates on who will replace Mezpin going forward, or what it plans to do in terms of the upcoming Bahrain pre-season Test next week.
In a recent interview with American journalist Bob Rains for Speed City Broadcasting, Haas team boss Gunther Steiner said that Pietro Fittipaldi would be first in line, with Mazepin unable to race.
"If Nikita can't drive for one reason or another, the first call will go to Pietro," Steiner said.
"Obviously, he's been with us for a few years, and then we'll see what we do next.
"But I mean Pietro is always with us for a reason.
“In previous years, we needed a reserve driver who might have COVID, so he is always around.
"He knows the team, he knows how to jump the car from one day to another. There's no one better than Pietro at the moment."
Fittipaldi, the grandson of double F1 world champion Emerson, made two starts in 2020 at the Sakhir and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Romain Grosjean at Haas following the Frenchman's horrific fireball accident in Bahrain.
He saw the checkered flag in both his outings, finishing 17th in the Sakhir GP and 19th in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier this week F1 also announced it had terminated its contract with the Russian GP, initially saying the 2022 event in Sochi could not take place under the current circumstances.
Motorsport UK also announced a complete ban on Russian and Belarusian licenses in 2022.