While Uralkali is seeking the return of sponsorship monies paid to Haas, the American F1 team is looking for compensation for "loss of profits".

In the aftermath of last month's invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Formula One was among one of the first sport's to be affected by the global sanctions that followed.

Along with the dropping of Russia's round of the Formula One World Championship, teams sought to sever all ties with Russian funding, among them Haas.

As well as ending its association with title sponsor Uralkali, the American team dropped driver Nikita Mazepin, son of the potash giant's owner.

Uralkali subsequently requested the return of £9m ($12m) it had paid the American team in advance of the 2022 season.

However, in its response, Haas has not only refused to hand back the money, it is claiming a further £6.6m ($8.7m) in compensation for "loss of profits".

In a further twist of the knife, the American team insists that until the compensation is handed over it is refusing to adhere to a clause in the original contract which stipulated that Mazepin would be given one of his (2021) cars - assuming there is one left in one piece.

In addition, the team is refusing to pay the Russian driver for any work carried out for the team this year up until the time of his sacking.

According to Motorsport.com, Dmitry Mazepin's ties to the Kremlin, and thereby Vladimir Putin, in tandem with the sanctions imposed by the European Union, were enough to triggered a disrepute clause in the contract.

"According to unanimous legal scholars and case law, the party which terminates the agreement for breach of the other party is under no obligation to return to such party what it has already received under the agreement," states a letter from Haas to Uralkali, according to Motorsport.com.

"The claim of Uralkali to obtain the re-payment of the down paid amount of EUR 12,000,000 is therefore ungrounded and rejected."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Editor, 16/04/2022 7:26

"@ ChickenFarmerF1

Rich Energy became title sponsor of Haas in late 2018. It parted company with the American team in late 2019.

Before Haas, Rich Energy had been wooed by Williams, but, luckily for the Grove outfit, Rich Energy made an 11th hour switch to Haas.

Lotus was never involved, in fact, Lotus had disappeared from F1 at the end of 2015, reappearing in 2016 as Renault."

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2. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 15/04/2022 22:48

"@ARL - they came close to a deal with Rich Energy, but it never materialized. Lotus wound up with that one. And while Mazepin wasn't really up to snuff as an F1 driver, the deal with Uralkali wasn't dramatically different at the time to the sponsorship (and partial ownership) deals that other teams have struck with highly questionable companies and countries over the years. And let's not forget the FIA (and Bernie) were perfectly willing to swim in Putin's pool too by authorizing the races in Sochi."

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3. Posted by ARL, 15/04/2022 18:14

"When it comes to sponsors, no-one picks them quite like Haas. Who next, Kim Jong-Un?"

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4. Posted by Defiant, 15/04/2022 2:34

"Dirty"

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5. Posted by Ro, 14/04/2022 16:08

"Nikita who???"

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6. Posted by Wokingchap, 14/04/2022 14:03

"I'm just so pleased to see the back of nikita."

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7. Posted by GordonG47, 14/04/2022 11:44

"Who didn't see this coming?"

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Haas and Uralkali at odds over money

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