Nikita Mazepin has hit out at his treatment in Formula 1 following the termination of his contract, while announcing the launch of a new foundation.
The former Haas driver was released from his deal last weekend due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the American team releasing the driver and their key sponsors, Uralkali.
As a result, Uralkali - a company owned by Russian oligarch and Mazepin's father Dmitry Mazepin - have demanded a refund from Haas following the termination of their arrangement.
These funds will be used to form 'We Compete As One' - strikingly similar to F1's 'We Race As One' initiative launched in 2020 - with the 23-year-old's charitable effort designed to support athletes who have been impacted by political decisions.
Mazepin said: "The foundation will allocate resources both financial and non-financial resources to those athletes who have spent their lives preparing only to find they were forbidden from competing and collectively punished just because of the passport they held.
"We will work to find jobs, as many athletes have been counting on sponsorships following their performances that did not happen.
“We will also provide legal aid. We will help them psychologically to cope with the sense of loss and emptiness that comes from being excluded.
"We all know the career of an athletes is short and it requires years of sacrifice to compete. When that reward is taken away it is devastating, and no one is thinking what happens next. I will be addressing this.
Today I am announcing the creation of a new foundation to help athletes who have been blocked from competing for political reasons. #WeCompeteAsOne
— Nikita Mazepin (@nikita_mazepin) March 9, 2022Most read in Motorsport
“Athletes unable to train due to upheaval will also be included in this. This will include athletes from all conflict zones and our door is open to everybody.
"We will beginning with the paralympic team in Russia which was banned from Beijing, having first been told they could travel. The name of the foundation will be ‘We Compete As One.’"
As part of the same press conference, Mazepin opened up on his departure from Formula 1, saying that he believes he should have had more support from his former team, Haas.
He said: "The reason I am speaking is to close my chapter with clarity and begin the next one with hope.
"I was informed last week in a letter from Haas’ lawyer of the immediate termination of my contract as a team driver. Prior to that the FIA, specifically the WMSC, ruled that I and other Russian drivers could compete under a neutral status.
"A similar provision has been enacted regarding for Daniil Medvedev in ATP (pro tennis), and he has been allowed to continue under a neutral status.
“I have consented through this ruling unconditionally when it was prepared by the WMSC, so the decision from Haas was not based either on any directive from the sport governing body or dictated by any sanctions that were placed against either me, or my father or his company, and of course I do not feel this is fair.
“In regards to the support from the team, I do feel like I should have had more. There has been no legal reason that could enable the team to terminate my contract, on legal terms.
"I have explained that I have been very relieved to see that the FIA has allowed athletes to compete on a neutral status, and I was hoping — and to be honest the hope was feeling close — that I would be able to compete, but obviously 5th March at 11:45am Moscow time things really changed and I lost my dream that I was working towards for 18 years of my life.”
Formula 1 also ended its contract with the Russian Grand Prix, while Motorsport UK announced Russian-licenced drivers will be banned from competing in the United Kingdom and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
As a result, Haas are now looking for a new driver with Mazepin's replacement due to be named this week as attention turns to the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 20.
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