The FIA has published a statement containing all the actions it will carry out in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In general terms and beyond the cancellation of the Formula 1 Russian GP and the WTCR appointment in Sochi, the Federation has distanced itself from the measures taken by organizations and federations of other sports and it does allow Russian and Belarusian drivers to compete in its championships, although without reference to their flags, hymns or symbols. Conversely, teams from these countries cannot be in the game.
With this as a reference, Nikita Mazepin can compete with the Haas team in the Formula 1 World Championship, in the same way that Daniil Kvyat can debut in the WEC or Nikolay Gryazin maintain his program in the WRC2 category of the World Rally Championship. Yes indeed, in the case of Kyvat its participation is subject to the G-Drive team, a formation of Russian origin that on paper is prohibited from participating in the World Endurance Championship. However, the structure has an agreement with Algarve Pro Racing, so it could compete under the Portuguese flag.
Beyond this specific case, teams of Russian or Belarusian origin cannot participate in any FIA championship, which eliminates the option of the Lada Sport Rosneft team to carry out a ‘wild card’ in the WTCR, as it did last year and as it almost certainly intended to do this season. Finally, at a functional level, Russian and Belarusian members of the various FIA commissions will have to temporarily resign from their functions within them. So far, everything is clear and concise.
However, the Federation of the United Kingdom and the National Authority of Finland have decided to tighten the measures and on the basis of restrictions imposed by the FIA they have taken another step to be in line with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The British authority has decided to restrict the participation of Russian and Belarusian pilots at events under the umbrella of ‘Motorsport UK’. Similarly, AKK-Motorsport has defined that drivers and teams with Russian and Belarusian license cannot compete in any car competition in Finland.
Under the current situation and in the face of this crossing of existing restrictions between the FIA and the aforementioned federations, Nikita Mazepin could not compete in the Formula 1 British GP in case of remaining a regular Haas driver. For its part, there are no conflicts in the WEC or the WTCR as there are no tests in the territory of the United Kingdom or Finland, but there is a clear conflict in the World Rally Championship due to the Rally of Finland, a test that takes place from August 4 to 7 in Jyväskyla. We will see how this point is resolved.
Photos: G-Drive Racing / Nikolay Gryazin