“Formula One can confirm that it has canceled its contract with the Russian Grand Prix, which means that Russia will not have any races in the future.” With this brief but forceful message, Liberty announced the unilateral rupture of the agreement it had with the country headed by Vladimir Putin. It is the response of the company that manages F1 following the invasion of Ukraine.
It was news that, in essence, had been expected since the beginning of the war, both because of the sanctions imposed by most Western countries and because of the refusal of some drivers to take part in the race. ‘was to be played on September 25 in Russia.
F1 has not given further details of the termination of the contract. However, some media outlets speculate on the possibility that Liberty has clung to one of the clauses, that of the country at war, in order to break the agreement without having to pay a millionaire compensation.
Russia made its F1 debut in late 2014, making Putin’s dream of having a race in the country come true. The event was held in Sochi – the venue for the 2014 Winter Games – and is scheduled to move to St. Petersburg from 2023. Eventually, there will be none.
Haas will dispense with Mazepin
Not just Formula 1 will eliminate the race in Russia, but most likely the country will also run out of representatives on the grid. The Haas team has decided to expel driver Nikita Mazepin, who would eventually run out of seats in the competition. The news, which will be made official in the next few hours, was also predictable, especially since on Friday, in the tests held in Montmeló, the team already removed the Russian flag and the of the Uralkali company from its cars. In addition, some countries such as Britain had vetoed Mazepin’s participation in his race this year, due to his status as a Russian or Belarusian driver.
Mazepin, in fact, was in F1 thanks to his father, the billionaire Dimitri Mazepin, owner of a company that produces and exports potash fertilizers. Interestingly, last year Dimitri had already threatened to withdraw funding from the team because he felt he was harming his son in relation to his teammate Mick Schumacher. The fact is that the Russian driver finished in 2021 in the last position of the classification, without any points and with worse results than Schumacher. With Nikita Mazepin removed, Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of legendary Emerson Fitipaldi, a two-time F1 champion, is expected to take his place.