Formula 1 Has Cancelled The Russian Grand Prix In Retaliation To Invasion In Ukraine
After an official statement from Formula 1 was released, the Russian Grand Prix has been canceled after the country waged war on Ukraine. Stating that holding the race in Russia under the current circumstances would be “impossible”, fans are now wondering how this will affect the 2022 F1 calendar.
The Russian GP was going to be held in late September, but now Turkey is rumoured to be the replacement for the race after tickets were published for the Turkish Grand Prix earlier this month. This was soon removed and touted as an administrative error, but could well prove to be the truth.
Thursday evening saw F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hold a meeting with team principals and the FIA to talk about their options on the Russian GP. Drivers and fans had already shown their negativity towards holding the race in Russia, and Red Bull’s Christian Horner also shared these beliefs alongside drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen who also agreed that they wouldn’t want to race in the Russian GP.
F1 said the following:
“The FIA Formula 1 World Championship visits countries all over the world with a positive vision to unite people, bringing nations together. We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation. On Thursday evening Formula One, the FIA, and the teams discussed the position of our sport, and the conclusion is, including the view of all relevant stakeholders, that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances.”
F1 teams are currently testing their cars in Barcelona, but the Haas team has had a sudden change of livery after they ended their partnership with Russian sponsor Uralkali. As this company is chaired by Dmitry Mazepin, Nikita Mazepin’s future remains to be seen, especially after his father has been revealed to be an associate of the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Guenther Steiner, team principal of the American-owned Haas, said the following in regards to the loss of sponsorship:
“It is a headache but it’s not something that disturbs the team.
“Financially we are OK. It has no implementation on the team, how we are running, how we plan the season, there are more ways to get the funding, we have no issues with that.”
He continued:
“We had to take a decision and I think this was the right decision to take.
“There is no setback on the competition side of the team because of this, we just need to go through the commercial issues and we will go through that in the next few weeks but it is a to-do list, nothing more.”
