The present has been punctuated by the controversy between Russia and Ukraine , a conflict that has been dragging on since 2014. On that date, the Russians took control of Crimea, a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the Black Sea coast , and supported the separatist forces.
Some time later, it seems that Russia has declared war on the neighboring country, which has great international repercussions, and directly affects sporting events, such as Formula 1 itself.
The Great Circus has been visiting the largest nation in terms of territory in the world since 2014, with a race in Sochi, even Vladimir Putin , president of the country, attended the premiere of the track, although he appeared when the test had already started.
Formula 1 had never stopped going to Russia since its arrival on the calendar, but this 2022 may be different due to the conflict that is open. Be that as it may, some drivers like Sebastian Vettel have already expressed their opinion about racing there, and he has been blunt on the subject.
The German is one of the directors of the GPDA (Pilots Association), and is one of the most active members of the grid with regard to the social sphere and human rights, as was seen in Hungary with his claim with the collective LGTBIQ+.
Although Vettel does not have the necessary authority to express an opinion as a whole, he spoke about his decision, saying that he would not race in Russia.
“I have woken up again after watching the news in the morning in shock. I think it is terrible to see what is happening, and if you look at the calendar, there is a race scheduled in Russia,” said the Aston Martin driver.
“For me, my own decision, is that it should not be raced in that country,” Vettel said forcefully. “I feel sorry for the people, for the innocent people who are losing their lives and who are being killed for stupid reasons under strange and crazy leadership.”
“I’m sure it’s something we’ll talk about at the GPDA, but like I said, we haven’t met this year.” The German added that “his decision was made” and that he will not visit Russia to compete.
Fernando Alonso also hinted at his intentions, as he indicated that “he would do the best”, while Charles Leclerc maintained that Formula 1 “will make a choice when it has more information than they have”.
Max Verstappen, for his part, also spoke on the subject: “When a country is at war, the best thing is not to race there.”
F1 is not the one category that can suffer from the conflict, since UEFA has among its plans to cancel the Champions League final in June to move it to another venue other than Saint Petersburg, a Russian city that was originally going to host one of the most important matches in the world of football.
