Photo: Haas F1 Team / Facebook
After Sebastian Vettel came out yesterday saying that he wouldn’t be racing in this year’s Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, now we have an entire team taking a stand against Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, with Haas removing every single trace of its title sponsor, Uralkali, from its cars.
Uralkali is a Russian company, owned by none other than Nikita Mazepin’s father, Dmitri Mazepin. The latter joined forces with Haas for the 2021 season, resulting in a livery that looked suspiciously Russian. Both Russia and the United States have red, white and blue colors in their flags, but the way they were arranged on the Haas, well, let’s just say that car didn’t look like something Uncle Sam would drive.
The American outfit issues this statement today: “Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday 25 February.”
“Nikita Mazepin will drive as planned in the morning session with Mick Schumacher taking over in the afternoon. No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements.”
Meanwhile, earlier this morning, both Nikita Mazepin and team boss Gunther Steiner had their press commitments canceled, reports Motorsport.
At this point, it’s impossible to say whether Uralkali will return on Haas’ livery once the season kicks off in Bahrain on March 20, or whether Haas will sever all ties with its title sponsor because of the ongoing military conflict. It’s obviously a delicate situation and Haas need more time to sort everything out.
As for the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, scheduled to take place on September 25, it has been canceled, with the FIA and participating teams all in agreement. The FIA joins UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in taxing Russia, which will no longer host this year’s Champions League Final. The latter has been moved from St. Petersburg to Paris.
The American outfit issues this statement today: “Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday 25 February.”
“Nikita Mazepin will drive as planned in the morning session with Mick Schumacher taking over in the afternoon. No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements.”
Meanwhile, earlier this morning, both Nikita Mazepin and team boss Gunther Steiner had their press commitments canceled, reports Motorsport.
At this point, it’s impossible to say whether Uralkali will return on Haas’ livery once the season kicks off in Bahrain on March 20, or whether Haas will sever all ties with its title sponsor because of the ongoing military conflict. It’s obviously a delicate situation and Haas need more time to sort everything out.
As for the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, scheduled to take place on September 25, it has been canceled, with the FIA and participating teams all in agreement. The FIA joins UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in taxing Russia, which will no longer host this year’s Champions League Final. The latter has been moved from St. Petersburg to Paris.
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