Red Bull Content Pool

General

Russian minister says GP still not cancelled by F1

Russian minister says GP still not cancelled by F1

01-03-2022 10:00 Last update: 12:14
7

GPblog.com

Last Friday it became clear that Formula 1 would not travel to Russia for this year's Grand Prix "under the current circumstances". As a result, the Ministry of Sport in the Krasnodar region of Sochi has not yet heard a definitive no. Liberty Media probably has a good reason for that.

Liberty had to speak out and condemn the violence of Vladimir Putin, but at the same time there is also a big financial interest. If the pinnacle of motorsport cancels the contract with the Russian GP, it will lose tens of millions and may even be fined.

Russia not received anything from Liberty Media yet

Liberty Media would therefore prefer not to cancel the Grand Prix itself at this stage. They probably hope that another solution will be found in the coming period. Serafim Timchenko, the relevant minister, tells Tass news agency"At this moment the ministry has not received any official letters about the cancellation of the races."

The Russian further explains that it is wait and see for now."We can only rely on official statements in the media. Let's hope that by September the situation will change and we can throw ourselves back into the world of Formula 1 as usual." However, the chances of that happening seem very slim.