Bernie Ecclestone insists F1 made the RIGHT decision allowing Russian driver Nikita Mazepin to continue racing, with the outspoken motorsport supremo, 91, adamant that Russian athletes ‘have NOTHING to do with’ conflict in Ukraine
- The FIA announced Russian drivers can still compete in high-level motorsport
- Athletes from other sports have been banned due to Russia’s Ukraine invasion
- It has cleared the way for Nikita Mazepin to be on the grid for the 2022 season
- Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has backed the decision made by the FIA
Bernie Ecclestone has supported Formula One’s decision not to outlaw Russian drivers.
The FIA announced on Tuesday that Russian drivers will still be allowed to compete in high-level motorsport, albeit under a neutral, flag clearing the way for Nikita Mazepin to be on the grid for F1’s season-opening race in Bahrain on March 20.
FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russian teams from all international competition in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned by World Athletics.
Motorsport UK has also moved to stop drivers with Russian licences from competing in the UK, meaning Mazepin, 23, will not be able to take part in July’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
But Ecclestone, 91, has backed the FIA’s stance on Russian drivers.
‘It was absolutely the right decision by the FIA,’ said Ecclestone, who ran F1 for four decades.
‘There are so many things being agreed by the world about this conflict between Russian and Ukraine. But I don’t think anybody has really thought it through, or got their heads around it.
‘If there is a Russian driver in F1, what does it have to do with Russia fighting a war? There is no relationship there.
Bernie Ecclestone has backed the FIA’s decision to allow Russian drivers to compete
‘The Russian athletes have nothing to do with this conflict. They are not part of it, and they have never been part of it. They just happen to be Russian.’
Haas driver Mazepin’s immediate future still hangs in the balance. His father, oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, is a part-owner of Haas’ title sponsor, Uralkali.
The American-owned team removed the branding of the Russian fertiliser company for the final day of testing in Barcelona.
The FIA’s decision would allow Nikita Mazepin to drive in Formula One during the 2022 season
His Haas team though are still to make a decision over his future after dropping Russian sponsor Uralkali
Commenting on Motorsport UK’s decision to ban Russian drivers, chairman David Richards said: ‘It is our duty to use whatever influence and leverage we might have to bring this wholly unjustified invasion of Ukraine to a halt.
‘We would encourage the motorsport community and our colleagues around the world to fully embrace the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee and do whatever we can to end this war.’
At last week’s test, F1 bosses also cancelled the Russian Grand Prix, which had been due to be staged in Sochi on September 25.
The FIA have gone against the decision made by other sporting bodies including FIFA
Ecclestone struck a deal with Vladimir Putin to add the Russian GP to the calendar back in 2014
Ecclestone, who struck a lucrative deal with Putin to add the race to the schedule in 2014, continued: ‘The Formula One Group decided it was the right thing to do to cancel the race but, whether that was the right thing to do, I don’t know? There is no war in Russia.
‘The FIA confirmed it was cancelled because the Formula One Group cancelled it. If nobody spoke about cancelling the race, I am sure the FIA wouldn’t have done anything.
‘He [Putin] is probably not happy at all with what is happening, but with all these things going on, and him being branded a criminal and with the world against him, I don’t think he would care too much about a Formula One race.
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