F1 could have faced driver boycott had Russian GP not been cancelled
Formula One has cancelled the Russian Grand Prix after the state’s invasion of Ukraine and it has emerged there was likely to have been a mass boycott of the event by the drivers had it gone ahead. The sport did not issue any condemnation of Russia but cited the “impossibility” of holding the race under the current circumstances.
On Thursday Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, the four-times world champion, was the first driver to declare he would boycott the race if it went ahead. After F1 announced the cancellation it became clear his view was widely shared across the paddock.
Britain’s Lando Norris, who drives for McLaren, was unequivocal in his stance. “No, I would not have wanted to go,” he said. “Out of pure respect for what’s going on. There is no reason we should be able to live our lives normally and go and have a normal race in a country where those things are going on. Alongside Pierre [Gasly] and Seb and many other drivers, I would not want to go.”
Fellow British driver George Russell, who steps up to partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes this season, suggested there was general agreement among the drivers in backing Vettel’s stance, saying: “We all would have stood together in that.”
AlphaTauri’s Gasly, who has personal attachments to several people in Ukraine, made it clear he would not have raced in Russia and would have taken the issue up with the sport’s
CEO Stefano Domenicali. “I completely supported Seb,” he said. “It was the right move and something I would have taken to Stefano and to the top management in F1 because we are all allowed our say.”
The teams were completing their third and final day of their first test in Barcelona on Friday. Michael Schumacher’s son Mick is currently entering his second season in F1 with Haas and the team had removed the Russian flagbased livery of its title sponsor Uralkali from their cars, trucks and motorhomes. He too had observed that F1 could not ignore Russia’s actions. “It affects all of us,” he said. “Personally, it makes me very sad and I think we all have to hope and pray for Ukraine now.”
The race in Russia was set to take place on 25 September and as things stand F1 has made no suggestion of which country might replace the meeting. Turkey has been mooted as a potential venue having been used twice in the last two years, stepping in for races cancelled due to the Covid pandemic but F1 is understood to not be considering the Istanbul Park Circuit as an option this time.
On Thursday evening Domenicali held a meeting with the team principals and the FIA to discuss the Russian GP, with clear, widespread opinion that the sport could not go to Russia while it engaged in an invasion of Ukraine. Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner had described the idea of going to Russia as simply untenable and the world champion Max Verstappen had decried the notion of racing in a country that had declared war on a neighbouring state.
By F1 standards a decision was reached remarkably quickly, likely reflecting the unanimity of opposition to the race. A statement was issued by midday on Friday. “We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation,” it read. “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.”
For Haas the future remains uncertain. Uralkali is a Russian chemical company with Dmitry Mazepin as deputy chairman of its board. He is the father of Haas driver Nikita Mazepin and is an associate of Vladimir Putin, attending the Kremlin for a meeting called by Putin on Thursday.
The team’s association with Uralkali remains in doubt and Mazepin’s status as a driver may be under threat with the potential for visa bans being imposed on Russian nationals.
Team principal Guenther Steiner insisted Haas were not at financial risk should they end their association with Uralkali, a decision which would be made in the next few weeks.
“It is a headache but it’s not something that disturbs the team,” he said. “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.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton concluded testing with the fastest lap of the week, topping the time sheets in the dying embers of Friday’s running, with a 1min19.138sec lap, just a tenth up on his teammate Russell.