The invasion of Ukraine by the aggressor Russia three years ago today one February 24th 2022, saw Formula One take decisive action with almost immediate effect. The Uk almost immediately banned Russian drivers from competing within its territories and the US owned Haas F1 team found itself in rather a pickle.
They had hired the son of a Russian oligarch, Nikita Mazepin as one of their full time drivers for the season yet as the first missiles were fired on Kyiv, Haas were given some breathing space given this was day two of the test and their Russian driver was not scheduled to drive their car.
Haas F1 were primarily sponsored by Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, the owner of Uralkali, who had ironically influenced the design of the team’s livery to resemble the Russian flag. As the massed ranks of Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, Formula One was undertaking its pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Russian invasion of Ukraine impacts F1
The F1 media were immediately all over the topic of Mazepin’s future with the Haas team and in F1 generally, yet owner Gene Haas appeared to follow the US Republican Party’s line that this new war in Europe was of little consequence.
Nikita did in fact complete nine laps for Haas on the next and final day of the test as the F1 headlines screamed for his exclusion. The following day the decision was taken by the Haas F1 team to strip the car of its Russian style livery and indeed Nikita Mazepin was dismissed from his role within the team.
The American owners of Formula One moved swiftly and on March 3rd they announced the contract with the promoters of the Russian Grand Prix had been terminated. Formula One’s CEO Stefano Domenicali said the sport has no plans to hold future races in Russia.
The Russian Grand Prix was scheduled to be held in Sochi that year before moving to Igora Drive in St. Petersburg in 2023, but Domenicali made it plain for all to understand F1 was done with dealing with Russia full stop. “I’ve always believed that you should never say never,” Domenicali told Sport Bild magazine, per GrandPrix.com. “But in this case, I can promise for sure — we will no longer negotiate with them.
“There will be no more racing in Russia,” he announced emphatically.
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Russian F1 promoter laughable response
Predictably the Russian response whilst ridiculous, was amusing in stereotypical fashion. Alexey Titov, the CEO of Russian GP promoter ANO Rosgonki, said he expected 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 politicised. 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,” concluded the deluded promoter.
Titiv later claimed his organisation was taking legal action against Formula One for breach of contract, though by now his voice was drowned out by the horror of the situation in Ukraine.
UAE refuses to condemn Russian invasion
The new president of the FIA found himself in somewhat of a quandary. As the United Nations General assembly adopted a resolution rejecting the Russian Federation’s brutal invasion of Ukraine by a majority of 141-5, the UAE – home of Mohammed Ben Sulayem – decided they were not on the side of global opinion and abstained from the vote.
Ben Sulayem was still finding his way around the corridors of power at the FIA’s home in the Place de Concorde in Paris, and so found himself under significant pressure from the predominantly European officials within the organisation to act in the face of appalling Russian aggression.
With the world passing it by stating their positions over Russia’s illegal possession of Ukrainian soil, the FIA sought to move quickly and find a consensus view. The initial response caused confusion amongst many motorsport observers as both Russian and Belarusian drivers would continue to be allowed to race under the auspices of the FIA.
The condition? They race under a neutral flag. Clearly this was not the position of most of the organisation’s members, whose national leaders had made clear their stance in the UN resolution vote. At the time it was suspected by some that Ben Sulayem had brought significant influence to bear on the matter, in line with the UAE’s apparent indifference to the impending global crisis.
FIA creates 10 point document for Russian drivers
Back in the real world, weapons were quickly committed to support the Ukrainians in the fight for survival with the UK and the US taking the lead on the matter. Of course the EU as a 28 headed creature spent a number of weeks trying to square the circle. Germany with its rich history of oppressions and genocide was committed to only being involved in armed conflict were it to be due to a threat against their territories or another NATO member as article five of the North Atlantic Treaty binds them.
Yet sanctions were quickly agreed by the EU and the condemnation of Russia’s illegal invasion was universal, with the Kremlin puppet leader of Hungary being the only exception. Finally the FIA stepped up in the face of overwhelming public opinion in Europe stiffening their position on Russian competitors stating they now must sign a ten point document which in effect declares the individual opposition to the current illegal actions taken by the Russian State.
“The FIA continues to carefully monitor the events in Ukraine and reserves the right to take any further actions or implement further measures in the future, including any necessary actions required to comply with its obligations under any applicable sanctions regime and/or any contracts to which the FIA is a party,” read the accompanying document.
Member associations of the FIA were encouraged to look again at any relationships they had with Russian owned companies. A number of opinion pieces from F1 writers expressed dismay and anger at the fairly anaemic response from the FIA, drawing comparisons to their repose to the apartheid era.
F1 teams lead the way on boycott
Then the FIA strongly condemned the all white South African government for its position on racial segregation and inequality of the treatment of its subjects. Yet it was the F1 team’s whose decision to boycott the event which eventually caused Formula One to disentangle itself from its relationship with South Africa.
Haas F1 fired their Russian driver despite the FIA’s soft response which allowed him to continue racing, yet within weeks Nikita Mazepin was added to a list of people sanctioned by the European Union, due to his father’s connections to the Kremlin. Job done and the FIA was off the hook.
As the world piled on round after round of sanctions on Russia, the FIA remained hidden in the shadows and remarkably received little of no criticism for its failure to step up its approach to the Russian massacre of innocent women and babies.
In fact almost a year after the first Russian conveys rolled across the Ukrainian border, the FIA issued an update to its poicly on Russian drivers competing in events under its remit. Nikita Mazepin had just secured his first podium on his comeback to top flight motorsport.
A remarkable agreement reached between F1 and the FIA
Return of Russian driver Mazepin
He took third place in the Asian Le Mans series, which ironically took place in Dubai – a member of the UAE. Whilst purely a coincidence, the FIA announced it was toughening its measures on Russian competitors. Robert Swartzman, born in Russia and part of the Ferrari academy had eluded the FIA’s requirements to sign their ten point document as a Russian competitor given he had changed his nationality to Israeli.
Having discovered this apparent wheeze – the FIA sought to close this apparent loophole which left Russian competitors off the hook stating that now even those who once were Russian citizens must sign their ten point document.
This is despite the fact the Swarzman had become a pariah and traitor in Russia for converting in particular to an Israeli nationality. Israel and Russia have never been particularly on good terms, with. Russia actively to support the Syrian genocidal regime in whose territory terrorists were trained and then deployed as Iranian resources flowed through the country on its way to Hammas and Hezbollah.https://thejudge13.com/2025/02/24/complete-f1-radio-ban/
FIA refuse to evict Russian association members
To this day the following Russian associations remain members of the FIA.
Autoclub Assistance-Rus
Russian Automobile Federation
Russian Automobile Society
Russian Federation Auto Sport and Tourism
Further the Belarusian members remain too
Belarusian Auto Moto Touring Club
Automobile Federation of Belarus
Today, on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it appears the FIA are going to soften their tough man stance on Russia as Donald Trump leads the way to appease the criminally run imperialist state. Whilst Stefano Domenicali stated that on his watch Formula One will never race in Russia again, the FIA are now considering easing the sanctions on Russian drivers.
Claims the FIA set to reverse decision on Russians
The cause of this re think is unsurprisingly because of a Russian Rally driver. Mohammed Ben Sulayem himself was a rally champion in his home region. Recently, a Dakar Rally competitor from Russia, Sergey Karyakin, said he would sit out the 2025 edition because he refused to sign the FIA document which forces him to imply the leaders of his country are committing crimes against humanity.
“Of course I would really like, if there is such an opportunity, to take part in the World Rally Raid Championship in the future,” he told the Russian Tass news agency. “I managed to talk to the sheikh, who is the president of the FIA,” Karyakin said, referring to Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“He promised that next year he will correct the situation with the admission of Russian racers to competitions.”
The Dakar Rally was once dominated by a Russian team Kamaz-Master, but since the war in Ukraine any sign of Russian involvement has been banned. Three tines winner of the endurance race across the desert, Anton Shibalov, who also refused to agree to the FIA’s conditions claims changes in the FIA’s attitude may now be afoot.
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Russian driver claims FIA president set to reverse sanctions
“As participants, including the guys from Kamaz, we are ready to go back even tomorrow,” he also tells the Russian state owned Tass news agency. “I hope that in the coming years this will all stabilise and we will be able to take part again. But I cannot say when exactly this will happen. It depends on the FIA.
“What I can say for sure is that in the near future, in February, negotiations on this topic are planned. It needs to be resolved now – the Dakar has ended, and the Formula 1 season is yet to start. Soon, the FIA president will be much less accessible,” Shibalov added.
The Russian driver arrogantly claimed the fans would welcome him and his comrades back with open arms given the competition has gone downhill since the exclusion of his Kamaz team. No front line F1 outlet has reported the claims from the Russians which of course allows the FIA to remain silent on the matter. With the 47th president of the United States keen to ensure a flippant remark he made over a year ago comes to pass that he will end the war in Ukraine quickly, the voices in favour of appeasing Russian are louder than ever. This climate will allow the FIA to rescind its current position, which many believed to have never gone far enough in the first place.
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Being on the wrong side of history
Mohammed Ben Sulayem lifted the spirits of F1 fans last week when he suggested the ditching of the much hated hybrid engines cold come as soon as 2030. Yet his maverick moves to ban drivers for a month if caught swearing three times, make him appear to be more like Trump than ever.
Donald trump believes he will finish the war in Ukraine whilst the Europeans are sidelined and those invaded not even present at the negotiating table. This will surely strengthen European unity in the face of potential full scale European wide war and th president of the FIA should remember where his organisation is located.
The will of the 141 countries of the world remains in the UN resolution demanding Russia withdraw. Attempts by Trump to insist the UN remove the description of Russia as an aggressor now pit him against a global consensus, on which he is on the wrong side.
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Mutter the words Adrian Newey amongst F1 folk and the response will include the adjective ‘legend.’ The guru F1 car designer has won 13 F1 drivers’ championships along with 12 constructor titles at three different teams.
Those who know Newey understand he is a restless soul and as most genius characters are can be quite sensitive and prone to a loss of temper. His first foray into Formula One was with the minnow March/Leyton house team. In his book ‘How to build a car’ Newey reveals the was racked with self doubt over his designs even though in 1988 his car in fact hassled the uber dominant McLaren Mp4/4.
Come 1990 and the Leyton House owner Akira Akagi was in financial trouble, so he brought in a new team financial director named Simon Keeble to – as Newey put it – “tighten the purse strings on his behalf”. And with team boss Ian Phillips recovering from meningitis, Keeble became acting team principal…. 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.
Sudah kubilang; Carlos lebih kompetitif dan prospektif daripada si tua yang masih melekat sebagai ikon Mercedes.