Formula 1 (F1) CEO Stefano Domenicali has announced that the sport has no intention of returning to Russia for any event ever again.
F1 had already cancelled this year’s Russian Grand Prix as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Domenicali has expressed no desire of returning to the country ever again.
The Russian Grand Prix was scheduled to be held in Sochi this year before moving to Igora Drive in St. Petersburg in 2023.
“I’ve always believed that you should never say never,” Domenicali said. “But in this case, I can promise for sure — we will no longer negotiate with them”.
“There will be no more racing in Russia.”
F1 was just one of many sporting institutions to impose sanctions on Russia and its athletes post-invasion of Ukraine and the issue is becoming more and more contentious as time goes on.
Although FIA has allowed Russian drivers to compete under a neutral flag, teams have been reluctant to do so as exemplified by Haas sacking Nikita Mazepin whose father is a close ally of Vladimir Putin.
Other F1 teams have also put their commercial partnerships with Russian companies on hold.
Meanwhile, Alexey Titov, the CEO of Russian GP promoter ANO Rosgonki, said he expects F1 to refund payments made following the cancellation of this year’s race.
“This debt exists, it is confirmed and our position on it is unchanged,” Titov told Russian news agency Tass. “We expect a refund regardless of the current position of Formula One Management in relation to holding races in the Russian Federation.
“The current situation in world sports is extremely politicized. It is necessary to take Domenicali’s words here with this in mind. What he said has a pronounced political connotation that has nothing to do with the real spirit of sports.
“The future of our relations today is really unclear. We will take Domenicali’s position into account in our further work.”
This will be the first year since 2014 that a race will not be held at the Sochi Autodrom. Mercedes has won every race to date in Russia.
