Haas F1 is expected to completely divest itself of all Russian ties and make the official announcement soon.
The first direct victim of this announcement is of course Nikita Mazepin. Without the support of sponsor Uralkali, the company owned by his father, the Russian cannot race in F1. And more and more national federations are going further than the FIA.
After Great Britain, it is indeed Australia which considers the banishment of Russian pilots from all competition on its territory. And the list will probably grow.
As for Haas F1, the decision seems to have already been made and the team made a teaser of the Bahrain tests with a photo of Pietro Fittipaldi on track at Sakhir, his reserve who had replaced Romain Grosjean during the last Grands Prix of 2020. announcement is expected during the day or, at worst, by Monday.
According to Sky in Germany, Fittipaldi would only be established for the first races of the season, pending a possible driver capable of providing the budget or a sponsor.
The conditional remains in place because, for the moment, Haas has not made any comment following the information given by Sky.
“We haven’t released any statements or comments. If anyone claims something is being done, it’s just speculation.”
For Ralf Schumacher, Haas must communicate quickly concerning its links to be undone with Russia.
“This complete separation must take place now,” comments Mick Schumacher’s uncle.
“On the one hand there’s all this outside pressure, and Haas is also an American team. Gunther Steiner said the team is financially strong and I can imagine a sponsor or two coming in. I think the team will manage to make up for the lost manna (following the departure of Uralkali).”
