• For the uninitiated: from 2019 through 2022, russian athletes were banned from competing under the russian flag in many international sports competitions, inlcuding most motorsports, after the country was found to state sponsored doping in sport.

      In 2021 the American Haas F1 team, struggling for money due to a lack of success, hired the russian driver Nikita Mazepin and received title sponsorship from the russian company “Uralkali” (Dmitry Mazepin, father of Nikita, being one of the key shareholders of the company).

      When they unveiled the car, this is the livery they decided to run, claiming it is not intended to represent the russian flag. But they would be allowed to display the russian flag on the car, because it’s only the driver who can’t compete under the russian flag, not the team. But it’s totaly not a russian flag. It’s an american team!