Russia’s Grand Prix will not be part of this year’s Formula One season, after the sport’s bosses decided to remove it from their calendar after Russiathe invasion of Ukraine.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel he said he would boycott the Sochi Grand Prix and called on Formula One bosses to exclude him from the 2022 calendar, as he became the first driver to speak out against Russia on Thursday.
After initially delaying a decision by saying they were monitoring the situation “very closely”, Formula One officials decided to suspend the race, which is due to take place on September 25 today.
A statement Friday afternoon read: “The FIA FIA World Championship is visiting countries around the world with a positive vision of uniting people, uniting nations.
“We are watching the events in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution of the current situation.
“On Thursday night, Formula 1, the FIA and the teams discussed the position of our sport and the conclusion is, including the opinion of all stakeholders, that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances.”
The loss of the Grand Prix came just hours after UEFA handed over to Paris Champions League final at the end of the football season as the sport continued to turn against Russia.
F1 driver Aston Martin Vettel, 34, said Thursday: “In my personal opinion, I obviously woke up again after the news this morning, shocked.
The Russian Grand Prix in Sochi has been canceled for this season’s Formula One campaign
The news came as Ukrainian troops formed across a highway in Kiev as they prepared to defend the city from Russian invaders, with gunfire and explosions heard in the capital.
“I think it’s awful to watch what’s going on. Obviously, if you look at the calendar, we have a competition scheduled in Russia.
“For me personally, my opinion is that I should not go, I will not go. I think it is wrong to compete in this country. I feel sorry for the people, innocent people who lose their lives, are killed for stupid reasons under very strange and crazy leadership.
“I’m sure that’s something we’re going to talk about, but as I said as the GDPA (Big Drivers Association), we haven’t come together yet.”
Sebastian Vettel said he would boycott the Sochi Grand Prix after the Russian invasion
Raining world champion Max Verstappen has stopped condemning Russia, but also believes the race should be stopped. He added: “When a country is at war, it is not right to compete there.”
F1 took action after CEO Stefano Domenicali chaired a crisis summit with its governing body, the FIA, and the heads of sports teams on Thursday night.
It is unclear at this stage whether the race will be replaced, but Turkey’s Istanbul Park has been discussed as a contender to fill the now-empty space on the calendar.
Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone wrote to Domenicali demanding that the circle be removed from the calendar.
Stone wrote: “It is vital that the rest of the world is united in condemning Putin’s actions, including international sports organizations such as Formula 1. Russia should not be allowed to host prestigious sporting events, so there should be no Russian Grand Prix.
Ukrainian troops occupy a bridgehead in the city of Kiev as Russian forces advance toward the capital
“We know that Putin longs for status and recognition on the world stage. It would be outrageous if the world saw Putin on the Formula One podium in Sochi after the race, as he has done in recent years.
“I commend former world champion Sebastian Vettel, who said he would boycott the race if held. F1 must follow suit and cancel the event. ‘
The Russian Grand Prix was added to the Formula One calendar in 2014, with the track designed to compete around the Sochi Olympic Park, which hosted the Winter Games that same year.
Lewis Hamilton won five of the eight editions, including last year’s race, which was his 100th F1 victory. The other three victories were also taken by Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg triumphing in 2016 and Valteri Botas in 2017 and 2020.
The race at the Sochi Olympic Park, added to the calendar in 2014 after former Supreme President Bernie Ecclestone struck a lucrative deal with Putin, is set to move to Igor Drive, 40 miles north of St. Petersburg, next year.
The Formula 1 team Haas removed the brand of the Russian sponsor Uralkali from their car and released it in all-white livery on the last day of the tests in Barcelona on Friday.
The Formula 1 team Haas removed the brand of the Russian sponsor Uralkali from their car and released it in all-white livery on the last day of the tests in Barcelona on Friday
Haas, with which Russian Nikita Mazepin (above) competes, is sponsored by Uralkali in Russia
Haas drove his cars with Russian Uralkali flags and stickers last season as part of a sponsorship deal that provided funding for the team, and saw company owner and billionaire’s son Dmitry Mazepin Nikita sign a racetrack.
The 22-year-old Russian, who competes with Mick Schumacher and drove in the first two days of the tests in Barcelona, participated in the morning session on Friday, as planned.
Earlier today, St. Petersburg was deprived of the Champions League final after Russia declared war on Ukraine.
UEFA has confirmed that the European club football event will be moved to Paris from Gazprom Arena in the Russian city on Saturday, May 28, after an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee was convened on Friday morning.
Paris’s Stade de France, which last hosted the Champions League final 16 years ago when Barcelona beat Arsenal, will now host the European show at the end of the football season.
Russian armor is now advancing on Kiev from the north and east, with US intelligence saying the plan is to besiege the city, seize an airport and launch paratroopers who will then attack the capital. The goal would be to take over the government and force them to sign a peace treaty that would restore control of the country to Russia or to a Russian puppet.
WAR IN UKRAINE: LAST
- Russia has said it does not want to negotiate with the Ukrainian government until the military operation is over
- This came after Zelenski called for talks to end the fighting
- Ukraine has said Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites in Kiev in the past 24 hours
- Two children were killed in the attack in Kiev last night
- Ukraine bans men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country to enlist in the armed forces
- Russia is sending paratroopers to Chernobyl after capturing it yesterday, Moscow said
- Ukraine reports “abnormal” levels of radiation at the plant amid fears that the nuclear storage facility was breached during a battle, but Moscow said the readings were normal.
- Russia claims to have destroyed 118 Ukrainian military sites in 30 hours of fighting
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised more support in Ukraine in the coming days
- Johnson shared a phone call with Zelensky on Friday morning
The news in the world of sports came when Ukrainian forces took to the streets of Kiev today with National Guard troops filmed in defensive positions on the highway shortly before the sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard as they fought with Russian forces to control the capital. .
Putin’s people are now believed to be in the city, although their exact location and number are unclear. Fighting was reported in Obolon, on the outskirts of the city, in the early hours when the defense ministry told residents to make Molotov cocktails to “repel the occupiers.” Russian forces were also spotted in the Vorzel, Bucha and Irpen districts.
Russian troops are believed to have arrived from the northeast after being pushed out by Chernobyl, which was captured late yesterday. More Russian troops and armor advanced into the capital from Konotop, to the east, bypassing the city of Chernihiv, where they encountered heavy Ukrainian resistance.
Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said today would be “the hardest day” of the war.
Once Kiev is surrounded, US intelligence believes the plan will be for Russian special forces to move and take over an airport – possibly Sikorsky or Borispol – which will then be used to fly a much larger force of up to 10,000 paratroopers. who will attack capital.
The paratroopers’ job will be to enter the city, find Zelensky, his ministers and parliamentarians before forcing them to sign a peace deal restoring control of the country back to Russia or a Moscow-backed puppet regime – effectively ending the war without Putin’s ground forces must fulfill the difficult and bloody task of capturing and occupying the entire country.
The Russians appear to have almost completed the plan on the first day of the invasion, when 20 helicopter attackers landed a team of troops at Antonov Airport, 15 miles north of Kiev. But units of the Ukrainian National Guard managed to regain their runway overnight after heavy fighting, scattering surviving Russian attackers in the area.