F1 threatened with legal action as Russian GP chief makes defiant statement

Lewis Hamilton refuses to let 2021 season ‘define’ his career

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Alexey Titov, chief of Russian Grand Prix promoter Rosgonki, has taken aim at Formula 1 and warned that he is considering ‘legal steps’ after the organisation terminated their contract. Last week, F1 permanently removed the Russian GP from the race calendar in response to the country’s attack on Ukraine.

On March 3, F1 announced the termination of its contract with the Russian GP promoter, cancelling all future races.

A brief statement read: “Formula 1 can confirm it has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter. It means that Russia will no longer have a race in the future.

“Last week, F1 announced that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in 2022 in the current circumstances.”

And Titov has been left stunned by F1’s decision to deny Sochi the chance to host a racing weekend for the foreseeable future.

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Titov has accused the organisation of making an ‘unlitarel’ decision to permanently exclude the Russian GP after initially agreeing to cancel this year’s race.

He told Match TV: “I can’t speak of the details yet, because we are still continuing the proceedings, and it would not be correct to disclose the details now.

“I can only say that initially, the agreement was that we would terminate the contract due to force majeure, but then it all turned into a unilateral termination.

“They considered that there is a risk of default on our part. This was one of the reasons why the contract was terminated. In any case, all further legal steps require additional analysis. This is not an easy job, but we will carry it out.

“Now, there is absolutely no point in talking about some intermediate results. We will work to put an end to this matter correctly, since in our understanding it is now not quite correct.”

Titov also claimed that Formula One Management (FOM) now owes the promoter money because they have already partially paid the 2022 hosting fee.

Russia is thought to pay FOM over £38million ($50m) per season – one of the biggest fees to host a racing weekend.

He added: “We’re talking about refunds because this year’s grand prix fee has been partially paid. Formula 1 has to refund it whether they like it or not.”

Lewis Hamilton has won the Russian Grand Prix a record five times, with Mercedes triumphing in the last eight seasons, so F1’s decision to drop Sochi from the calendar could play into Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s favour.

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