While Nikita Mazepin has only been in the discipline since 2022 and his number of starts can be counted on one hand, the Russian Ministry of Sport bestowed upon him the Master of Sports title for his achievements in rally raid. He received the honor on May 29.

Master of Sports of Russia, a carryover from the Soviet era, is a title given to those who meet various sporting criteria and is the highest honor that a Russian athlete could get. For motorsports, one can become eligible by competing twice within three years in any discipline so long that it meets FIA regulation, and of course perform well in the process.

However, the successes must come domestically rather than in international series. This caveat meant Mazepin is the first Russian with Formula One experience to be named a Master of Sport despite only lasting a season there with poor results. On the other hand, Russian F1 alumni like Daniil Kvyat and Vitaly Petrov as well as 2025 Indianapolis 500 pole-winner Robert Shwartzman are not eligible for the Master of Sports since their top-level competition takes place overseas. Likewise, Mazepin’s sports car racing in Asian Le Mans and the Middle East Trophy would not count for the MS.

Instead, Mazepin qualified via the Russian Rally-Raid Championship. He began racing in the RAFRR in 2022 after losing his F1 seat in the wake of Russia invading Ukraine. He made his debut at that year’s Ladoga Trophy before winning the T3 class at the Silk Way Rally. Since then, he did two more rallies at the 2023 Baja Astrakhan and 2024 Denis Davydov Baja (part of the sister Russian Rally-Raid Cup), finishing second overall in both and winning T3 at the latter.

While this means he has only entered four cross-country rallies total, the SWR and DDB wins seemed to be enough to convince the Ministry of Sport. Mazepin will return to the SWR in July, racing a Can-Am Maverick X3 for 99 Racing. He’s also expressed interest in running the Dakar Rally someday. Russian drivers remain barred from FIA competition unless they agree to condemn the invasion and not use their country’s insignia, though Mazepin currently uses a neutral flag when racing in FIA events.

Mazepin is from Moscow, but received the MS as an Astrakhan resident since that’s where his rally operations take place. He was sanctioned by the European Union shortly after the full-scale invasion began, owing to his father Dmitry’s ties to Vladimir Putin, though the sanctions were lifted last October.

Master of Sports honors for May 29, 2025

Featured image credit: Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV