These are not easy years for the Haas. The American team, revelation of the entire Circus during its first years of life for the surprising ability to obtain important results even with a very limited budget, has now become the last of the class. The 2022 season had to be that of the relaunch, with the possibility of taking advantage of the new technical regulation to get closer to the rest of the grid. The start, with the presentation of the new VF-22 almost surprisingly, anticipating the competition, seemed to be encouraging. To row against the team headed by Günther Steiner however, the global geopolitical situation is also getting into it. Always uncomfortable opponent for a team participating in an international championship.
In fact, this year could be causing problems at Haas livery. In fact, a flag of Russia, given that the main sponsor of the team is the Russian company Uralkali, linked to Dmitry Mazepin, father of the second driver of the team, Nikita, and main financier of the team. Last year there were already discussions on the color of the car, given that the Russian flag was in fact banned from the sport due to a disqualification imposed by the world anti-doping agency. It is no coincidence that Mazepin Jr. himself raced the entire year under the banner of the Russian Automobile Federation. To this aspect, now, however, is added the very strong tension between Russia and the United Stateslinked to the possible invasion by Moscow of the territory of Ukraine.
A problem which, as often happens with delicate international political issues, ends up reflecting on sport as well. And who can be more involved in this than an American team with Russian sponsorship? At the moment, however, Günther Steiner’s hope is that the two aspects remain separate. “We are not involved in politics – said the manager from Bolzano, thus defending the livery adopted by the team – obviously, like everyone else, we are following everything that is happening in the world right now. If there are any difficulties, we will deal with them. But I’m glad we’re not involved in any of this at the moment. And we can’t even do anything about it – he concluded – we play sports, not politics“.
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