F1 | Haas: cars and material stopped in Zandvoort for the Uralkali case

Haas was unable to remove its cars and equipment from the Dutch Grand Prix because former title sponsor Uralkali is still awaiting back payments, believed to be $9 million. The Russian firm has filed a lawsuit to seize the F1 team’s assets.

In the pit lane at Zandvoort on Thursday evening, bailiffs and police assessed cars and equipment after Uralkali claimed last month that Haas had missed a July deadline to repay a cancelled sponsorship deal.

Following a Swiss arbitration hearing in June, it was ruled that Haas would have to reimburse its former title sponsor part of its 2022 sponsorship payments, before the deal was scrapped due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the company was also promised a Formula 1 car.

While the court ruled that Haas had the right to terminate the agreement, it also said that the American-owned team could only keep a portion of the $13 million in sponsorship money it paid for the campaign.

Haas was then ordered to return the sponsorship money due after March 4, 2022, when the deal was cancelled. Motorsport.com understands that Uralkali believes no effort was made to issue the refund until they attempted to seize Haas’ assets at Zandvoort.

Haas insists the payment was made Friday night, with owner Gene Haas saying Sunday afternoon that “it’s all taken care of now.”

However, as the funds were sent on a Friday, they were not deposited into an account in the Middle East due to the weekend, and although it was agreed that Haas’ participation in the Dutch Grand Prix could go ahead as normal, the team’s equipment was unable to leave Zandvoort as the court order remained in force.

Initially, the American team said it sent the payment through the Middle East to ensure any transaction was fully compliant with sanctions imposed on several Russian companies.

The statement on Friday said: “Haas is fully committed to paying Uralkali all amounts due under the arbitration award, and there is no dispute. Haas has worked with its attorneys to ensure that the payment complies with all US, European, UK and Swiss sanctions and regulations. We will continue to work with Uralkali in the coming days to resolve this matter definitively.”

The Russian company did not accept the sanctions issue as a justification for the delay in payment, saying that they had not yet received the funds on Sunday and were not even expecting a deposit notification due to the weekend. In addition, Uralkali is waiting for a logistics plan to understand how and when the promised F1 car will be delivered.

After Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished 11th and 18th respectively, the Haas trucks were unable to depart for Monza, with the understanding that they will be given the OK to go to Italy once payment confirmation arrives on Monday.