(Montmeló) The American Formula 1 team Haas will not sport the Russian colors of its title sponsor Uralkali during the last day of pre-season testing on Friday at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit, it announced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Posted at 2:41 p.m.
Haas, whose single-seaters usually sport the blue, white and red colors as for the Russian flag, “will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, without the Uralkali brand, for the third and final day of testing” in Catalonia, the team said in a statement.
As for its Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, he “will drive as planned during the morning session”, specified the team, without providing further details concerning “the agreements with the team partners”.
Uralkali, a group specializing in potash, has the pilot’s father, businessman Dmitry Mazepin, as its non-executive director.
Earlier today, F1 said it was “following developments very closely” in the situation, without commenting further on the Grand Prix scheduled for late September in Russia.
World champions Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel were in favor of canceling the race.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, with air strikes and ground force entries including in the direction of the capital Kiev, killing dozens of people in the early hours, according to the Ukrainian authorities.