The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on Tuesday announced that it would not ban Russian and Belarusian motorsport drivers. However, the governing body of several motorsport events, including Formula 1, said that the drivers will have to race under a neutral FIA flag.
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HAAS Formula 1 team’s Nikita Mazepin will be able to race in Bahrain this month. But he, a Russian, will not be able to display his country’s national symbols, colors or flags on their uniform, equipment and car, the FIA ruled at a World Motor Sport Council meeting.
The same rule will apply to other Russian and Belarusian drivers participating in events organised by the FIA.
Formula 1 earlier this week announced that it pulled its race from Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Grand Prix had been scheduled for Sept. 25.
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“The FIA is watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and I hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation. We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and our thoughts are with all those suffering as a result of the events in Ukraine,” the FIA had said.
Mazepin had posted a message on social media : “To my fans and followers – it’s a difficult time and I am not in control over a lot of what is being said and done.”
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said that the governing body stands in solidarity with Leonid Kostyuchenko, the President of the Federation Automobile d’Ukraine (FAU) ‘ the wider FIA family in the country’.
“We stand in and. We sincerely hope for a peaceful resolution to their intolerable hardship.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine drew other punitive measures in the sporting world, including UEFA stripping St. Petersburg of hosting the Champions League final on May 28 and replacing it with the Stade de France outside Paris.
