Haas has announced a plain white livery for the final day of Barcelona F1 test with the Uralkali branding to be removed.
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the world seeing a war-like situation between the two nations and others, the after-effects are slowly getting amplified with direct problems for many businesses along with entertainment and even sporting sectors.
On F1 side, the discussions around Russian GP will initiate tonight with team bosses to hold a meeting with Stefano Domenicali and the FIA regarding the possible scrapping of the Sochi event. Even though it is far off from now, the sanctions could make it difficult.
While the F1 drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso have seemingly made clear of their intentions, teams are taking a cautious approach and waiting to discuss more in the meeting before taking a call.
Meanwhile, one team which is likely to be in deep trouble is Haas. With Nikita Mazepin driving, they have a prime Russian sponsorship in the form or Uralkali. This has put them in a very bad position where they have a tough decision to take.
While the discussions about the partnership goes on behind the scenes, Haas is chosen to not run the Uralkali branding on its car for the final day of Barcelona F1 Testing. They are to run a plain white livery with the running order to remain the same.
Guenther Steiner already cancelled his press conference schedule for Thursday with Mazepin not speaking later in the day. The Italian is slated to speak to written media on Friday, but it remains to be seen if that will go ahead or not.
“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,” said a statement. “Nikita Mazepin will drive as planned in the morning session with Mick Schumacher taking over in the afternoon. No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements.”
While the discussions are held behind the scenes, fans on social media also noticed the removal of Uralkali name from Haas accounts. It remains to be seen if they will pull out the name all-together from its team name as well, which they have to confirm with the FIA.
Here’s news from F1 on Russian GP
Here’s how Haas did on Day 2