Guenther Steiner was asked for his opinions last autumn following the FIA giving the green light to the Andretti F1 team. Speaking to assembled media he commented:
“Don’t forget the risk as well. Now you’ve got 10 very stable teams, which are all technically stable, financially stable. If you put another team in and maybe somebody’s getting in jeopardy in three or four years’ time, maybe we’ve got only eight or nine teams left, you know.”
This appears ironic twelve months on as Haas F1 face the seizure of the cars and spares in Zandvoort. The reason? A dispute with former sponsor Uralkali over unpaid funds after a lengthy legal dispute.
Mazepin banned from UK and Canada
The Russian owned potash producer was the team sponsor for Haas in 2021 and heading into 2022 they coughed much of the seasons contractual funding pre-season. Then Russia invaded Ukraine which resulted in global sanctions being placed on a number of Russian individuals and organisations.
Haas F1 terminated their contract with Uralkali and sacked the owner of the company’ son Nikita Mazepin who was one of their two full time drivers. The EU then ruled that Nikita and his oligarch father Dmitry were to be sanctioned due to their association with warmonger Vladimir Putin.
Nikita Mazepin overturned the Eu’s decision earlier this year yet the UK and Canada have refused to change their stance on the Russian who is banned from their territories.
Uralkali also took umbrage from the Haas decision to dismiss them as the team sponsor taking their case to a court of arbitration in Switzerland. The petition was for the £13m advanced monies paid to Haas early in 2022 be returned.
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Court rules Haas not in breach of contract
Haas F1 counterclaimed for reputational damage due to their links with Uralkali and its chairman Dmitry Mazepin who was a close associate with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Swiss court ruled Haas should return the proportion of the fee which applied after the contract termination had been issued, although they did not find Haas F1 in breach of contract.
‘The arbitration panel ruled that, in light of all the facts relating to the parties’ relationship, including Uralkali’s association with Russia, Haas “could not be expected to continue the Sponsorship Agreement under such circumstances,” and concluded that “the Arbitral Tribunal finds that Haas had a just cause to terminate the Sponsorship Agreement.”’
Despite Uralkali stating they hoped Haas F1 would return the funds with speed, the monies remain outstanding. Uralkali has now petitioned a Dutch court for the assets of Haas F1 to be seized from the Zandvoort circuit because the team has failed to repay the monies the court of arbitration ordered.
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Bailiffs attend Haas F1 garage in Zandvoort
A report from RacingNews365 claims that appraisers were present in the Zandvoort paddock on Thursday to calculate a valuation for Haas’ cars and equipment. Uralkali have requested the Dutch judge orders the seizure of the Haas F1 team’s track side assets at the end of Sunday’s Grand Prix which of course would prevent the team from competing next week in Monza.
A Haas spokesperson has now issued a statement: “Haas intends to pay all amounts due to Uralkali pursuant to the arbitration award, and there is no dispute over the amounts due,” it read.
“Haas has been working with its lawyers to ensure that the payment complies with all relevant US, EU, UK and Swiss sanctions laws and regulations. We will continue to work with Uralkali in the coming days to definitively resolve this matter.”
Were the Dutch court to accede to Uralkali’s demands, this would be a vital blow to Haas resurgence as the team are now challenging RB for eighth place. The American owned team trail the Red Bull sister outfit by just seven points with ten races remaining and Nico Hulkenberg has slashed the lead of V-CARB with consecutive P6 finishes in Austria and Great Britain.
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Haas 2025 pairing
Haas F1 are losing Nico Hulkenerg to the Audi F1 project next season and they have also announced they will be parting ways with Kevin Magnussen who stepped in last minute when Nikita Mazepin was banned.
Ferrari academy driver Oliver Bearman has been confirmed as one of the team’s drivers next season together with Esteban Ocon who decided to leave Alpine following internal confrontation.
Ocon crashed into his team mate on the aborted lap one of this season’s Monaco Grand Prix, this ended his race and damaged the car of Pierre Gasly. Team boss Bruno Famin took to French national TV lambasting his driver who within two weeks announced he was leaving the team.
Magnussen future unclear
Meanwhile Kevin Magnussen is insisting “everything’s on the table” when it comes to his future with suggestions the Dane may race in the world endurance championship or the US based IMSA series. It now appears as though there is no room for the former McLaren junior with Alpine now announcing this weekend the recruitment of their academy driver Jack Doohan.
With Mercedes set to sign their protoge Kimi Antonelli this means only Audi remain in the running for an experienced F1 driver now. Valtteri Bottas appears favourite to remain with the Sauber/Audi team since their number one target Carlos Sainz rejected the works drive for the Williams project headed up by James Vowles.
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FIA to close testing loophole exploited by Red Bull
The modern era of Formula One is very different from the world into which Lewis Hamilton landed in 2007. Then track testing was unlimited and most Wednesdays during the F1 season would see an array of F1 drivers at Silverstone testing their current cars.
In fact Hamilton had put in tens of thousands of miles in testing the previous year and was more than familiar with his debut season car than any rookie today could hope to be.
The year Hamilton debuted, the FIA decided as part of its cost cutting programme to restrict in season testing to just 30,000 kilometres per team. These were the days when being a test driver for an F1 team was a full time job as the combined number of kilometres run in tests came to a whopping 411,012 kilometres… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
