Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week, F1 announced that it would not compete in Russia later this year and that the September 25 race was cancelled.
The Russian Grand Prix promoter, Rosgonki , claimed at the time that it was still possible for the race to go ahead, because the contract had been suspended, not cancelled.
However, F1 has now confirmed that it has broken the contract for the Russian Grand Prix.
“Formula 1 can confirm that it has terminated its contract with the promoter of the Russian Grand Prix, which means that Russia will not have a race in the future either,” the statement said.
That means F1 will no longer move from Sochi to St Petersburg as planned in 2023. F1 was to race at the revamped Igora Drive circuit from next year, with the Russian Grand Prix contract running until 2025. .
The decision to terminate the contract was made last week during talks between F1 officials and team bosses about that race following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The entire sport has been cutting ties with Russia since the beginning of the invasion. Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to participate in this month’s Paralympic Games in Beijing, while FIFA has suspended the Russian soccer team and all Russian clubs from their competitions.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council held an extraordinary meeting earlier this week to discuss issues related to the Russian invasion and announced that Russian and Belarusian drivers would still be able to compete, but only under the FIA’s neutral flag.
But that hasn’t stopped individual federations from taking their own action, with Motorsport UK , the body that regulates UK racing, revealing it would ban Russian and Belarusian drivers from racing in their countries.
Russian F1 driver Nikita Mazepin faces an uncertain future at Haas as a result of the war. The American team removed the stickers from its title sponsor Uralkali on the final day of testing last week, having supported Mazepin throughout his racing career.
