Aug.24 (GMM) The Haas team cannot currently leave the Netherlands once the chequered flag waves at Zandvoort late on Sunday.
Operating on legal authority, Dutch police and bailiffs entered the Formula 1 team’s garages at the Dutch GP venue and formally seized the race cars, motorhome, trucks and all other equipment.
Haas can continue to use the equipment throughout the weekend, but without paying back about $10 million to disgruntled former Russian sponsor Uralkali, the team is barred from departing the country.
“They must inform us where all the equipment is,” said Dutch lawyer Jurjen de Korte, representing Nikita Mazepin’s former sponsor. “If they do not comply, they are committing a criminal offense.”
Haas was ordered to pay back sponsorship money in a Swiss arbitration case in June, relating to the team’s decision to axe its deals with Uralkali and Mazepin at the outbreak of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“They had time to comply,” the lawyer added, “but they were playing hide-and-seek. The ball is in their court, they have to find a solution.”
Haas said in a statement that it “intends” to repay the money, but is struggling to comply with complex anti-Russian sanctions. “We will continue to work with Uralkali in the coming days to finally resolve this matter,” said the Gene Haas-owned team.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu said on Friday: “We’re not disputing it whatsoever, but it’s a complicated process to transfer the funds across.”
If Haas cannot quickly find a solution, the team could sit out next weekend’s Italian GP – a breach of its contracts with Formula 1.
Uralkali sounded totally unsympathetic in its own press statement.
“This is the expected consequence of Haas’ refusal to obey the ruling of arbitrage awarding payment and a race car to Uralkali,” the Russian fertiliser company insisted.
“There are not now and never have been any sanctions issues preventing Haas from fulfilling its obligations. Nevertheless, they have gone unfulfilled,” Uralkali added.
“We are delighted to hear that, following last night’s visit from Dutch authorities, Haas is finally paying attention to the arbitral ruling.”