Clouds hang over Russia’s F1 debut
SOCHI: Russia makes its longawaited Formula One debut in Winter Olympic city, Sochi, this weekend with the sport in no mood to party – even without the political clouds that hang heavy over the race.
Dominant Mercedes could clinch the constructors’ title for the first time, while Britain’s Lewis Hamilton is aiming for a ninth win of the season to add to his 10-point lead over German teammate Nico Rosberg.
But sport will not make all the headlines.
Unthinkable in the communist era, when a Ferrari on the streets of Moscow was as rare as a Zil limousine in Las Vegas, the grand prix arrives at a time when many in the west find it unpalatable.
The crisis in Ukraine, with condemnation of Moscow and sanctions imposed by the west, the seizure of Crimea, and the downing of a Malaysian airliner near Donetsk in July, have all added to criticism of the race going ahead.
Britain’s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said in July that Russia should not be allowed to host the grand prix.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has shrugged off critics and Russian president Vladimir Putin, for whom the grand prix is a showcase legacy of the record $51 billion (R579bn) spent on the Winter Games, is expected to attend.
The street race will run around the Black Sea resort’s Olympic Park.
“We are happy, the sponsors appear to be happy, so we carry on,” Ecclestone told the Times this week.
“No one has spoken to me about this race or told me that we cannot go. The sanctions do not affect us and what we are doing is not illegal.
“The Russian people asked us to come here and that is what we are doing. We are putting on a grand prix – this is nothing to do with politics,” added the 83-year-old.
Sunday’s race has also been clouded by sadness.
Marussia’s French driver, Jules Bianchi, a popular member of the only Russian-registered team in the sport, remains in a critical condition after suffering a brain injury in a crash at Suzuka last Sunday.
The accident is the most serious since Brazilian Felipe Massa suffered a lifethreatening head injury in Hungary in 2009. Marussia have entered Alexander Rossi to replace Bianchi, but the American is still not certain to race.
The official list of cars and drivers published by stewards yesterday named Rossi and Britain’s Max Chilton as Marussia’s entrants, but sources made clear a decision had yet to be taken about how to proceed out of respect for Bianchi’s family and their teammate.
There is a strong chance Chilton will be their only race entrant in what should have been a big moment for the sport’s only Russian-registered team on Russia’s F1 debut. – Reuters