The new colors of the Haas F1 team could mean walking a tightrope with the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency

The Haas F1 Team launched its plans for 2021 last week with news that fertilizer company Uralkali would be its title sponsor. This comes as no big surprise as the company is controlled by Russian Dmitry Mazepin, father of Haas rookie driver Nikita Mazepin.

However, if you look at the space on the car, the team’s main sponsor is still Gene Haas’ Haas Automation, as has been the case since the team started in 2016.

However, the paintwork of the car was very different from last year’s car and has a significant amount of red, white and blue. And no, the American-owned team doesn’t wave the American flag when choosing a paint job.

Critics quickly argued that the paint job was intended to display the flag of Russia, suggesting that this was done to circumvent a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that Russia and Russian athletes are not officially allowed to compete in sporting events the World Cup until the end of 2022 and that Russian participants must participate as “neutral athletes” and the Russian flag may not be displayed next to their names.

However, WADA added that the neutral athletes can wear the national colors on their clothing. All of this was a penalty for Russia tampering with data while investigating doping allegations against its athletes.

Mikhail SvetlovGetty Images

“We came up with this paint scheme last year, before WADA decided on the Russian flag,” said Haas F1 team boss Günther Steiner. “Of course we can’t display the Russian flag, but you can use the colors of the car. It’s the athlete who can’t fly the Russian flag, not the team. The team is an American team. “

It is perhaps worth noting that many other countries also have red, white, and blue as national colors, including the United States, France, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Australia, and New Zealand among others, Norway , Panama, Chile, Cuba and North Korea. It is clear that Uralkali wants a Russian feel to the car, but there is no real flag.

More interesting about the WADA ban is what will happen to the name of the F1 Grand Prix of Russia, which, according to the judgment, cannot be used under the terms of the ban.

The FIA ​​is a signatory to the WADA agreements and must therefore impose all measures that have been decided.

America’s F1 team drives a car whose color scheme is very similar to the flag of Russia. This is going to be a fun season. What are you taking Let us know in the comments below.

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