Sebastian Vettel is adamant that having an F1 race in Russia under current circumstances is wrong and he won’t take part in it.
On Thursday morning, the World woke up to the upsetting news of Russia launching offensive inside Ukrainian territory. The country is now subject to widespread criticism and most of the nations are imposing sanctions on them.
Formula 1 themselves are facing problems due to geo-political tensions between the countries. In particular, Haas who have Uralkali (a Russian company) as title sponsor, face the potential threat of facing financial problems due to sanctions.
Another subject of concern has been the Russian GP that is scheduled to take place this September. Some fans had been calling for it to be scrapped for quite a while now, but with the invasion now official, many believe that F1 are actually considering it.
Sebastian Vettel for one, made it clear that he won’t travel to Sochi this year. The four-time World Champion admitted that he felt uneasy upon hearing the news and was scared and sorry for the people of Ukraine.
Vettel is the director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association. He revealed that the group hasn’t discussed on the matter yet, but plan on doing so very soon.
Sebastian Vettel does not want F1 to go ahead with the Russian GP
Formula 1 themselves said that they were ‘monitoring the situation’ as of Thursday morning. It’s very possible that public pressure and sanctions from the West will prevent the race in Sochi from going ahead.
Ahead of the second day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, Vettel spoke about the matter. “As GPDA we haven’t spoken on the subject. So I can’t speak on behalf of GPDA,” he said.
“But in my personal opinion, obviously I woke up to this morning’s news shocked. I don’t know, I think it’s horrible to see what is happening. Obviously if you look at the calendar, we have a race scheduled in Russia.”
“For myself, my own opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it’s wrong to race in that country. I’m sorry for the innocent people that are losing their lives, getting killed for stupid reasons. A very, very strange and mad leadership.”
“I’m sure there’s something we will talk about but as I said on behalf of the GPDA we haven’t come together yet. But personally I’m so shocked and sad to see what’s going on. We will see going forward but I think my decision is already made,” the Aston Martin driver concluded.
Also read: McLaren’s Lando Norris looks back on a strong first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona
