At time of writing, Formula 1 driver, Sebastien Vettel has come out publicly and said that he would not race in Sochi. Will the other drivers/ teams follow suit?
Max Verstappen has taken a more tempered approach, instead threatening to follow Vettel in not racing in Russia amidst Vladimir Putin's escalation of tensions with Ukraine.
Image credit: crash.net
“For myself, my own opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it’s wrong to race in that country. I’m sorry for the people, innocent people who are losing their lives, getting killed for stupid reasons.” said Vettel as reported by The Express.
Image credit: skysports.com
The Sochi F1 Grand Prix is scheduled for September 25 sandwiched in between the Italian GP and Singaporean GP.
Stefano Demonicali, CEO of Formula One Group has called for a meeting with F1 team bosses to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, as pressure mounts for the Russian GP to be cancelled.
An F1 spokesperson said: “Formula One is closely watching the very fluid developments like many others and at this time has no further comment on the race scheduled for September.
“We will continue to monitor the situation very closely.” as reported by Skysports.
Image credit: Formula1 facebook
Another question worth asking is where will the Haas F1 team emerge in the aftermath of all this? Haas' title sponsor is Uralkali and they have a Russian driver in Nikita Mazepin.
Mazepin, told Sky Sports News “I'm not struggling at all because I've always been a big supporter of sports without politics,” during pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Keyword: Will the FIA Cancel The Russian F1 GP?