F1 has announced that it has terminated its contract and there will be no further Grands Prix in Russia for the foreseeable future.

"Formula 1 can confirm it has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter meaning Russia will not have a race in the future," said F1 in a statement this morning.

The move comes days after F1 announced that the 2022 race had been cancelled, though the promoter subsequently claimed that the event might yet happen.

2022 was to be the last race at Sochi before the Grand Prix moved to St Petersburg in 2023.

After years of false starts it was Russian premier, Vladimir Putin who was instrumental in bringing F1 to Russia, and with St Petersburg being his home town he was known to be looking forward to the city hosting the nation's round of the world championship.

A bonus can be found here however in the sense that F1 is likely to be able to find a number of promoters willing to step in to fill Russia's slot on the calendar, with Pitpass having already reported that a deal to host a race in Las Vegas is as good as done.

Today's move by F1 is the latest as sport effectively shuts Russia out following last week's invasion of Ukraine.

That said, the FIA has drawn widespread criticism for its decision to allow Russian drivers to continue participating in sanctioned events providing they race under a neutral flag.

Yesterday, Motorsport UK, which organises all 4-whell motorsport in the UK, announced that all Russian drivers and teams are banned from competing in events in the UK.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Max Noble, 03/03/2022 23:39

"It’s fascinating to watch the passion, concern, and views flying around the various comment sections this past week. Each of us is at a keyboard (or smartphone, tablet…) with electrical power, enough spare time to think, and type, and enough information to have an opinion…
Anywhere on this Earth that people are denied this possibility (as nothing is a “right” - we have the laws of Physics, all the rest we have as a race made up as we have gone along…) it is “wrong”.

Various geo-bounded locations are more fearsome in their punishment for variance than others. As a race we, if we believe we have a social contract to be good members of society, then we have a duty to fight injustice whenever we have a chance.

…which leads to to complex topic of “engaging to reform”, compared to “punishing for bad behaviour”.

With many nations around the world we as a race are trying to “engage to reform”. When someone oversteps the line - or more to the point drives 40 miles worth of main battle tanks directly over it - then we have to punish first, not simply engage to reform…

To extend from my “I don’t like cricket” article - it’s not just bloody tourists (those ignoring their social contract, and standing by while others commit evil), it is the wider issue of “Bloody humans!” Whereby we are forever our own worst nightmare. It is the individual battle within to be a beacon of enlightenment which each of us must master every day to make this planet a better place…"

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2. Posted by jo6pac, 03/03/2022 16:19

"Posted by Superbird70, 2 hours ago

So it's OK from a humanitarian front to kill thousand in Yeoman? The house of suad isn't known for it's humanity. "

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3. Posted by Endre, 03/03/2022 15:18

"Banning races everywhere with human rights issues is not quite as clear cut. In some situations including those countries in international events can help moving forward a positive direction. Case in point, the first race in Hungary was held in 1986 while the country was still part of the communist block. Exposing the entire region to increasing western influence helped moving towards the changes that extended to the entire Eastern European region in 1989.

Russia these days is a completely different story as they are moving down a very bad path. Sport is a major contributor to extreme nationalist feelings (always has been, the Berlin Olympics in 1936 just one example) therefore it is entirely justified that they must face repercussions in this area as well. Arguments saying that sports should be above politics do not hold water all the time. "

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4. Posted by Superbird70, 03/03/2022 14:40

"Sorry skin "colour or religion""

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 03/03/2022 14:39

"@jo6pac- Actually it's about something worse than skin colour or money. $$$$. This is hopefully the first of more serious actions that F1 takes on the humanitarian front."

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6. Posted by Tardis40, 03/03/2022 13:23

"I can understand cancelling a grand prix in a country involved in hostilities. It's for the safety of all involved. However I cannot agree with using F1 in a punitive way. If things calm down the races should then resume."

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7. Posted by jo6pac, 03/03/2022 13:16

"How about ending the ones in the middle east? The house of suad has killed thousands in Yeomen. Is because ones white and the other brown or is about religions?"

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8. Posted by Endre, 03/03/2022 13:14

"The IOC has also finally decided to ban Russian and Belorussian athletes from the Paralympics. As signatory to the IOC, I hope that the FIA will now follows suit. "

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9. Posted by KKK, 03/03/2022 12:58

"Absolutely brilliant. Its about time the Rusian people realise whats going on in the outside world. They will suffer all because of a demented tyrant"

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10. Posted by Jet Jockey, 03/03/2022 12:46

"Excellent!"

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F1 terminates Russian GP contract

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