F1 news LIVE: Russian Grand Prix terminated as Nikita Mazepin faces axe from Haas

LIVE – Updated at 16:03

Formula One has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix and confirmed there will no longer be an F1 race in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 2022 running of the event, set for September at the Olympic Park in Sochi, had already been cancelled last week and the sport is now cutting future ties with the country.

Nikita Mazepin, the only Russian driver in Formula One, is expected to be cut from his Haas team and replaced by reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi ahead of preseason testing in Bahrain, according to reports. Yesterday Mazepin was barred from competing at the British Grand Prix when Motorsport UK announced that no Russian or Belarusian athletes would be approved to enter motorsport competitions in the UK, and that no flags or anthems of those countries would be permitted at British events.

Meanwhile, the reigning world champion Max Verstappen has signed a new six-year contract to extend his stay at Red Bull until 2028. The Dutchman is understood to have been rewarded for his toppling of Lewis Hamilton with a pay packet to match, worth around £40m per year. Follow all the latest news and reaction below.

Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert believes that 2022 could be the year that Lewis Hamilton wins his eighth F1 Drivers’ Championship.

Hamilton, currently level with Michael Schumacher on seven world titles, was denied the outright record in a controversial ending to the season in Abu Dhabi last year.

However Herbert suggested that he felt Mercedes actually over-achieved in 2021, despite Max Verstappen’s triumph.

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Red Bull advisor and head of their driver development