Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has insisted the team will return money it has been ordered to pay to its former sponsor Uralkali.
Reports on Friday claimed Uralkali had asked a Dutch court to seize cars and equipment belonging to the team as it had not complied with the outcome of an arbitration hearing which took place two months ago.
Haas terminated its title sponsorship deal with Uralkali, and the contract of driver Nikita Mazepin, the son of the company’s CEO Dmitry Mazepin, in February 2022. The team ended its relationship with the Russian company in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that month.
Uralkali subsequently claimed it was owed money by Haas for the unfulfilled portion of its agreement. An arbitration hearing in Switzerland upheld Uralkali’s claim and ruled Haas should reimburse its former sponsor for the duration of its contract which was outstanding at the point the deal ended.
Last month Uralkali issued a statement claiming the team had failed to repay the money and deliver one 2021-specification car as agreed. The team is understood to have encountered difficulties reimbursing the sums due to the restrictions on doing business with Russian companies as a result of the war, which is now in its third year.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted the repayment is taking longer to complete than he wished, but insisted it will happen.
“Obviously arbitration during was made and we accepted it,” he said in today’s FIA press conference. “We are not disputing it whatsoever.”
“Then it’s a complicated process to transfer that funds across,” he added. “We’ve been working on it, it’s been taking longer than I would like, but we are fully focused on making it across as soon as possible.”
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2024 Dutch Grand Prix
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