|
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Haas has said there is "no dispute over the amounts owed" to former title sponsor Uralkali, who sent bailiffs to visit the team ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix. Haas cut ties with Uralkali after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. In June, a Swiss tribunal ordered Haas to return money owed to the Russian company. Haas was judged to have been within its rights to have terminated the deal, but not to have kept prior funds from that agreement. With the team yet to return the owed amount, Uralkali sent bailiffs to the Zandvoort circuit on Thursday to itemise the team's inventory. It would be able to prevent Haas leaving the Netherlands if payment is not received by Monday. Haas insisted it will pay the outstanding funds. A team statement said: "Haas fully intends to pay to Uralkali all amounts due pursuant to the arbitration award, and there is no dispute over the amounts owed. "Haas has been working with its lawyers to ensure payment will comply with all relevant U.S., EU, UK and Swiss sanctions laws and regulations. We will continue working with Uralkali in the coming days to resolve this matter definitely." Uralkali released a statement of their own pertaining to the matter, with the sum of money owed a reported $9 million. "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," a spokesperson said. "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." Logistics are vital in F1 and a delay in payment could affect the team's preparations for the next race if Haas is unable to take its equipment from the paddock at Zandvoort. Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix is followed up by the Italian Grand Prix a week later, on Sept. 1. Teams will start moving the majority of their equipment by road to northern Italy from Sunday night onwards.
|
