A spokesperson for Dmitry Mazepin has described the Russian businessman’s return to the Formula 1 paddock in F1 2025 pre-season testing in Bahrain as “a personal visit.”

It comes after Oliver Oakes, the Alpine team principal and a friend of Mr. Mazepin, commented that it was “nice to see” him in Sakhir.

Dmitry Mazepin’s F1 paddock return a ‘personal visit’

As reported by PlanetF1.com, Mr. Mazepin was spotted in the paddock during F1’s three-day pre-season test in Bahrain last week.

It is believed to be his first trip to an F1 event since his Uralkali company cut ties with the Haas team in March 2022, shortly after Russian military forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine.

Haas’ decision to part company with Uralkali saw Mr. Mazepin’s son, Nikita Mazepin, replaced by the American team just weeks before the start of the 2022 season.

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With sanctions imposed on prominent Russian businessmen by the European Union and United Kingdom not applying in Bahrain, Mr. Mazepin was free to visit in the paddock in Sakhir.

Mystery has surrounded the nature of Mr Mazepin’s trip with the 56-year-old understood by PlanetF1.com to have used a so-called rotational pass, which does not require prior guest approval and was not applied for by a team, Formula 1, the FIA or the promoters at the Bahrain International Circuit.

According to Motorsport.com, a spokesperson for Mr. Mazepin has addressed the Russian’s return to the paddock, commenting: “Dmitry was on a personal visit.

“He has remained friends with many people in the Formula 1 family and was happy to see them in Bahrain.”

Despite being spotted in Mercedes’ hospitality unit in the paddock, PlanetF1.com understands that Mr. Mazepin was not a guest of the Brackley-based team in Bahrain.

He is not believed to have been a guest of Alpine either despite his historical association with Oakes, who was appointed team principal of the Enstone-based team last summer.

Mr. Mazepin is widely believed to have been a key investor in Hitech GP, the junior racing team founded by Oakes which applied for a place on the F1 grid in 2023.

Reports last year claimed that Oakes, a former racing driver who was once a member of Red Bull’s junior academy, acts as a mentor to Mr. Mazepin’s 10-year-old son in karting.

Asked about Mr. Mazepin’s visit to the paddock in Bahrain, Oakes said: “I’ve said hello to him. I haven’t met him.

“He’s a friend of mine [and] I used to be together with him in Hitech.

He was here catching up with another friend of his. It’s nice to see him.”

Following Oakes’ appointment last year, reports from Germany claimed that a merge between the Renault-owned Alpine team and Hitech could be on the cards in the future.

It was claimed last August that Hitech and Vladimir Kim, the team’s billionaire Kazakh-born investor, are keen to enter F1 ‘via the Alpine route’ after the team’s bid to enter F1 in 2026 was overlooked.

Rumours have persisted that the Alpine team could be sold in the near future with the decision to repurpose Renault’s historic F1 engine division in Viry-Chatillon, near Paris, in favour of a Mercedes customer deal from 2026 interpreted as a move to make a potential transaction more straightforward.

However, Renault boss Luca de Meo and Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore have consistently denied that the team is for sale.

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