Russian motorsport chief not ruling out F1 comeback

Russian motorsport chief not ruling out F1 comeback
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A return to Formula 1 for Russia appears unlikely in the near term, but the president of the country’s automobile federation hasn’t ruled it out completely.

A return to Formula 1 for Russia appears unlikely in the near term, but the president of the country’s automobile federation hasn’t ruled it out completely.

Russia, once firmly embedded in the F1 calendar with strong backing from President Vladimir Putin, saw its involvement collapse in early 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, Formula 1 has cut all ties - with no visible steps toward reversing that decision.

“To bring it back, we’d have to take a race away from another country,” admitted Boris Rothenberg, president of the Russian automobile federation (RAF), in an interview with Championat.

“Time will tell,” he added. “I hope that, in the future, everything changes and goes back to normal,” he said, referring to Formula 1’s position on Russian involvement.

The war also spelled the end of Nikita Mazepin’s F1 career, with Haas terminating his contract in early 2022.

Speaking at the St Petersburg international economic forum on Friday,

Mazepin said the Russian government continues to support athletes impacted by the sanctions.

“I know about the problem first hand,” he said. “Because of the sanctions, I was forced to end my career at its peak.

“We created a fund, made certain efforts to help athletes, but they are incomparable with the efforts of the ministry of sports,” Mazepin added.

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