Italy freezes seaside villa linked to sacked Russian F1 driver

ROME

Italy on Monday seized a luxury villa on the island of Sardinia, saying it belongs to EU-sanctioned Nikita Mazepin, a Russian former Formula 1 driver, and to his oligarch father Dmitry.

The seaside property in Sardinia’s exclusive northeastern Costa Smeralda, a longtime magnet for millionaires and billionaires, is worth €105 million euros ($114 million) and was owned by the Mazepins via a “foreign corporate vehicle,” the country's financial crimes police said in a statement.

Mazepin and his father – owner and chief executive of chemical giant Uralchem – were added to the EU’s list of sanctioned Russian individuals last month, as the bloc extended measures against Russia’s elite in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Also, in March and in reaction to the Russian attack, Mazepin was sacked by US Formula 1 team Haas, for which he competed in the 2021 season. At the time, he called it a “unilateral step” that “completely ignored” his readiness to race under a neutral flag.

The Mazepin’s Sardinian retreat, called Rocky Ram, overlooks Capo Capaccia, one of the most scenic corners of the Costa Smeralda, and was previously owned by Italian left-wing media magnate and industrialist Carlo De Benedetti.

With the latest measure, Italian authorities have so far frozen almost €1 billion euros in assets connected to sanctioned Russian oligarchs, including villas, yachts and company holdings.