Sebastian Vettel has been forced to remove few flags from his ‘No War’ special helmet after statement from Cyprus Automobile Association.
Ahead of the Bahrain F1 Test, apart from drivers sending a message for ‘No War’ amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Aston Martin’s Vettel unveiled a special helmet for this week’s testing using the Ukrainian flag colours on his plain white livery.
Together with that, he had about 250 flags on the bottom in small which is what irked the Cyprus Automobile Association who wrote to the FIA for showcasing a flag of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is a disputed place for years.
The area of northern Cyprus adopted the flag after declaring its independence in 1983 which is only recognised by Turkey, whereas the international community considers it as part of Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish-adopted flag was found on the helmet of Vettel.
The CAA raised the topic with the FIA who noted about legal action against Aston Martin and Vettel. But it has been since removed with the designer Jens Munser Designs explaining what led to the ‘mistake’ which arose from using a stock image.
“The Cyprus Automobile Association, sole representative of the International Automobile Federation throughout Cyprus, informs that it has filed a complaint against the driver of Formula 1, Sebastian Vettel, the legal department of the FIA, for its unacceptable action to appear in its competition salute the flag of pseudo state.
“The Cyprus Automobile Association demands the immediate withdrawal of the pseudo state flag from the driver’s helmet, and to impose a fine on both him and his team. It is reminded that Vettel is competing at the Bahrain Grand Prix with a helmet in which a message against the war is written and depicted the flags of countries, among them and that of the unrecognized, so-called “TDVK”, which is unique unacceptable and condemned,” said a statement from CAA (translated).
Here’s the explanation from JMD and the images of the helmet:
— Jens Munser Designs (@JMD_helmets) March 12, 2022
https://twitter.com/JMD_helmets/status/1501811698931544066?s=20&t=yBA-6EyQ_NkPEKP-uIGW3g
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