F1 team could have cars SEIZED as Russian former sponsor demands £10million back after deal was terminated

AN F1 team could have their cars SEIZED as a Russian former sponsor demands £10million be paid back after their deal was terminated.

Haas were ordered to pay back money to Uralkali earlier this year from funds transferred to the team in early 2022.

ReutersHaas face having their cars seized[/caption]

But that became impossible following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian companies like Uralkali have been under economic sanctions meaning the likes of Haas have been unable to make transactions.

It means returning the €12million (£10m) that a Swiss arbitrator ordered must be paid back has proven difficult.

Haas have now sent out a statement to racingnews365 to indicate they do plan to pay the money back.

It read: “Haas intends to pay all amounts due to Uralkali pursuant to the arbitration award, and there is no dispute over the amounts due.

“Haas has been working with its lawyers to ensure that the payment complies with all relevant US, EU, UK and Swiss sanctions laws and regulations.

“We will continue to work with Uralkali in the coming days to definitively resolve this matter.”

Uralkali hit back themselves, stating: “We are aware that Dutch bailiffs, accompanied by police, last night arrived at the Haas paddock and took an inventory of all racing equipment and other property.

“This is the expected consequence of Haas’ refusal to obey the ruling of arbitrage awarding payment and a race car to Uralkali.

“The arbitral ruling was issued June 12th with immediate effect and has been ignored by Haas.

“Haas has had over two months to implement the ruling, and, as was reported previously, Uralkali reached out to Haas’ representatives with options about how to make payment and where to send the race car, without ever receiving a substantive answer.

“There are not now and never have been any sanctions issues preventing Haas from fulfilling its obligations. Nevertheless, they have gone unfulfilled.

“We are delighted to hear that, following last night’s visit from Dutch authorities, Haas is finally paying attention to the arbitral ruling.

“Uralkali wants nothing more than to receive what it was awarded during a fair judicial process and hopes that Haas will move quickly to rectify the situation so that all sides can move on.”