“Depression. Drink, Party… Gain 5 Kilos”: Banished Haas Driver Nikita Mazepin Opens Up on Tragic Aftermath of Steiner’s Treatment

Nikita Mazepin’s only year in Formula 1 was shrouded in multiple controversies. The Haas driver failed to impress ever since his arrival. Instead of introspecting where he was going wrong, he even blamed the team for putting him in a slower car than his teammate. The Russian former driver has now accepted his fate away from F1 and has a message for the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

Formula 1 witnessed many changes at the end of the 2022 season. Sebastian Vettel, after a long illustrious career, has retired from the sport. Daniel Ricciardo will probably join Red Bull as their reserve driver. Williams let Nicholas Latifi go as well and the Canadian may compete in IndyCar next year. Mick Schumacher too was shown the exit door after a trying season.

Nikita Mazepin has some words of wisdom for outgoing drivers

Nikita Mazepin knows a thing or two about being forced out of the pinnacle of motorsport. Therefore, it was nice of him to let his former colleagues know what they had coming. Nikita took to Instagram to explain the 5 stages these drivers will soon go through. However, what caught fans’ attention was stage 4, Depression.

“Stage 4: Depression. Drink, party on yacht, sleep it off, gain 5 kilos. Repeat on endless loop. This will not be an easy stage to get through, but your friends will enjoy it,” the caption read.

Nikita did have to bargain a lot with Haas and FIA after the 2021 season to keep his seat. However, when it did not realize, he did not have the kindest of words for Haas boss Guenther Steiner.

Ruling out a move back with Haas, Mazepin told the Russian news agency TASS, “when a team boss behaves like that, then I think there are nine other teams with whom I can have a dialogue. I think one day I will be [in F1] as a businessman, but there is no hurry.”

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As far as depression goes, only Nikita knows what he went through. Having to leave the sport he was so passionate about surely must have taken a toll on him.

Fans troll Nikita Mazepin on his wholesome post

Haas was in dire straits financially when Nikita Mazepin arrived. What he brought to the table was a sponsor, his father’s company, Uralkali. The fertilizer company pumped in some much-needed cash that the team needed to keep themselves afloat. That was probably one of the biggest reasons for his arrival on the American team.

Fans, however, did not take kindly to him telling legends like Sebastian Vettel what to expect post-retirement.

Some Instagram users wrote:

“U forgot something…. revenge.”

“Not the post I expected to see when I opened Instagram. Wisdom imparted [Laughing emojis].”

“More salt than the Arabian sea in the caption.”

“Bro I’m crying wtf is this [Laughing emojis].”

“The F1 driver with the worst F1 career giving advice [Laughing emojis] despite the pay-to-drive seat he was still dropped!”

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What do you think of Nikita’s post? Was he actually trying to help? Or did it turn out a little preachy?