Haas threatened with legal action after axing Russian sponsor

Haas

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Haas threatened with legal action after axing Russian sponsor

The team dropped Nikita Mazepin and Uralkali in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 9 March 2022 10:48

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Former Haas title sponsor Uralkali is seeking repayment of funds paid to the team after having its contract terminated ahead of the new F1 season.

The Russian potash fertiliser producer, owned by Dmitry Mazepin, was dropped by Haas in the wake of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Mazepin's son Nikita was also dropped as the team's driver, with both decisions coming after F1 confirmed it had cancelled its contract with the Russian Grand Prix.

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Mazepin Jr stated he felt "ignored" despite his willingness to conform to FIA guidelines for Russian and Belarusian drivers.

Speaking ahead of the decision to drop Mazepin, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner insisted the team would not be impacted competitively by losing Uralkali, explaining funding would remain sufficient.

But Uralkali is seeking repayment after the contract was cancelled before the first race of the season.

A statement read: "Uralkali has been for many years contributing considerably towards global food security and providing significant assistance to a whole range of sports associations, organizations and events both in Russia and abroad.

"The company views the team’s decision as unreasonable and believes that sports should always be free of politics and pressure from external factors.

"Given the above, Uralkali intends to protect its interests in line with applicable legal procedures and reserves its rights to initiate judicial proceedings, claim damages and seek repayment of the significant amounts Uralkali had paid for the 2022 Formula One season."

Explaining why it believes a reimbursement is necessary, the statement continued: "As most of the sponsorship funding for the 2022 season has already been transferred to Haas and given that the team terminated the sponsorship agreement before the first race of the 2022 season, Haas has thus failed to perform its obligations to Uralkali for this year's season.

"Uralkali shall request the immediate reimbursement of the amounts received by Haas.

"The refund from Haas and the remaining part of Uralkali's sponsor financing for 2022 will be used to establish the We Compete As One athlete support foundation."