Former Scuderia Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, currently the chief executive of Formula 1, has confirmed that Liberty Media will no longer hold any further negotiations with the organizers of the Russian Grand Prix regarding the possibility of hosting future editions of the event and even pointed out that F1 will not return to the country even at a different venue.
The 2022 Russian Grand Prix was supposed to take place next month future, but the race was cancelled and the deal between Formula 1 and the organizers of the Russian Grand Prix was immediately terminated after Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The 5.848 km Sochi Autodrom, located in the settlement of Sirius next to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, hosted the F1 race between 2014 and 2021, but received a lot of criticism from fans due to its layout that did not favour overtaking or entertaining action on track. The first edition took place eight years ago at the Sochi Olympic Park, acting as part of the legacy for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, held earlier that year.
During the seven F1 events, Mercedes was the most dominant team, as British driver Lewis Hamilton secured five wins and his former Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas took the victory in the other two races at Sochi.
Following the 2022 Russian Grand Prix, organizers wanted to more the event to St Petersburg starting with the next season, a plan that has since been scrapped. In a recent interview for the German weekly sports magazine Sport Bild, Stefano Domenicali was adamant there were no intentions for the sport to go back to Russia.
“I’ve always believed that you should never say never,” he explained – “But in this case, I can promise for sure – we will no longer negotiate with them. There will be no more racing in Russia.” – the former Ferrari boss added.
On March 1 – a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine – Formula 1 officially cancelled the deal.
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Alexey Titov, chief of Russian Grand Prix promoter Rosgonki, said they want a refund for the early termination: “This debt exists, it is confirmed and our position on it is unchanged,” said Titov to Russian state news agency TASS. We expect a refund regardless of the current position of Formula One Management in relation to holding races in the Russian Federation. The current situation in world sports is extremely politicised. It is necessary to take Domenicali’s words here with this in mind. What he said has a pronounced political connotation that has nothing to do with the real spirit of sports. The future of our relations today is really unclear. We will take Domenicali‘s position into account in our further work.” – the Russian Grand Prix promoter added.
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