Haas break cover with all-white livery as Russian branding dropped

Sam Hall
Friday 25 February 2022 07:14 - Updated: 07:17

Nikita Mazepin has commenced the final day of running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in an all-white livery after Haas removed its Russian sponsor from the car.

Thursday saw an escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine with the former being placed under increasing financial sanctions by NATO allies and countries the world over.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner was pulled from his scheduled appearance in yesterday's press conference and Nikita Mazepin also saw his media duties cancelled.

In a statement released last night, Haas said: "Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona- Catalunya on Friday 25 February."

Dmitry Mazepin, the father of Haas driver Nikita, is listed as a major shareholder of Uralkali.

The team added: "No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements."

As a result of the continuing situation in Ukraine, F1, its teams and the FIA met last night to discuss the 2022 running of the Russian Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel confirmed he would not attend the event if it were to take place.

And here’s the white-liveried Haas being driven by Nikita Mazepin today pic.twitter.com/Tx4V7DOZvr

— Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1) February 25, 2022