$1.8 Billion Worth Father of Former F1 Driver Nikita Mazepin Goes Missing With His Yachts

Russia’s conflict with Ukraine brought a world of trouble for the Russian oligarchs. Among them was fertilizer magnate and former sponsor of F1 team Haas, Dmitry Mazepin. Such tight was Dmitry’s noose over the team that he got his son Nikita Mazepin one of the two seats. However, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Dmitry, like many other oligarchs, was hit with sanctions by the EU. Resultantly, he had to bow out of the team with his son. In the latest development, Dmitry has gone missing with two of his yachts that were seized by the authorities.

Italian authorities are currently on the lookout for Dmitry Mazepin, who disappeared with his two yachts that were seized last summer. The two seized yachts went missing within weeks, one after the other. $1.8 billion worth Mazepin (as per Celebrity Net Worth), who owns a house in Forte dei Marmi, is the first Russian Oligarch who has evaded the EU sanctions in Italy.

As per The Guardian’s report, “An investigation led by Olbia’s finance police found that the first vessel, said to be worth between €700,000 and €1m [between $760,000 to $1.09 million], left Olbia in June and made a stopover at the small port of Bizerte in Tunisia.”

“The second yacht is known to have left Olbia for Savona, a port in the northern Italian region of Liguria, before heading to Turkey. The current whereabouts of the yachts and their owner is unknown.”

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Nikita’s exit from the team was far from a smooth affair. There were many digs and counter-digs thrown at each other. Mazepin believed that he deserved better support from his former team when they terminated his contract ahead of the 2022 season.

Nikita Mazepin still eyeing an F1 comeback

Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nikita and Haas went their own different ways. Both succeeded in what they were looking for. While Haas found sponsors to keep them afloat in the championship, Nikita continued his journey in motorsports. Even better, he competed in the  2022 Silk Way Rally in the SSV class and won. However, that wasn’t enough for the Russian pilot.

Speaking in an interview with TASS,  he said, “I did that [the Silky Way Rally] out of pleasure and fortunately, the pleasure led to victory. But I don’t see myself as a professional rally driver. Silk Way is a wonderful competition, but for a non-rally driver to really prepare, you’d have to put everything else aside.”

“Next year I will also compete for myself in a new discipline outside of our country, but so far there are no signatures. So I can’t tell you about it. There is the desire, of course, to continue to compete in motorsport. My goal is to return to Formula 1, so that is the direction I will work in,” he added.

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As far as his return to F1 is concerned, chances look slim given the competition for each seat in the championship. As for his father, troubles might amplify in the coming days as Italian authorities go into crackdown mode.