EU removes Nikita Mazepin from sanctions list

The road to a potential return to Formula 1 for Nikita Mazepin continues to clear.

The Russian driver, alongside his sponsor Uralkali, which is led by his father Dmitry, was dropped by the American team Haas at the start of the Ukraine conflict.

Since then, Mazepin, now 25, has faced significant challenges in travelling beyond Russia's borders due to his inclusion on the European Union sanctions list, with his listing due to his father's connections to Vladimir Putin.

However, in a new development, while the Council of the European Union extended sanctions against Russian individuals this week, Mazepin's name has been removed from the list.

"In the context of the sanctions' review, the Council decided not to renew the listings of two individuals and remove five deceased persons from the list," the Council confirmed in a press release.

In addition to Mazepin, the other individual taken off the list was Violetta Prigozhina, the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former leader of the Wagner group who died in August last year.

The EU Council also reiterated that those still under sanctions continue to face travel restrictions, frozen assets, and prohibitions on certain payments.