Exclusive: Former Haas sponsor trying to seize cars as team sure of finding solution

Former Haas F1 sponsor Uralkali has asked a Dutch court to seize its F1 cars and spare parts ahead of this weekend's grand prix, RacingNews365 understands. 

Uralkali was Haas's title sponsor between 2021-2022, but the deal was terminated early following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Uralkali already having paid a large portion of that year's sponsorship money to the team. 

This was never returned to Uralkali, but Haas could not do so as global sanctions levied against Russian companies prohibited such a course of action. 

Uralkali went to court to get this money back, with the company winning its case after being ruled in favour by a Swiss arbitration agency as Haas was given the opportunity to return the €12 million, but did not do so. 

RacingNews365 and Formula.Hu now understands that Uralkali has asked a Dutch court to seize the cars and other equipment, with the motorhome also a possible target.

RN365 and Formula.Hu understand that appraisers were in the paddock on Thursday night to take stock and a valuation of Haas's equipment. 

Uralkali is requesting that full seizure of Haas's assets only comes after the Dutch GP weekend, and between 20:00 and 07:00 during the weekend itself.

This is to ensure that the team does not run into trouble during the Zandvoort weekend.

Should Haas's assets be seized after the weekend, its participation in next weekend's Italian Gand Prix at Monza could be in doubt, with it taking place between August 30th-September 1st.

It is now up to the North Holland District Court in Haarlem to rule on Uralkali's request for seizure. 

When approached for comment by RacingNews365 and Formula.Hu, Haas provided the following statement. 

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

"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."

Haas is confident that it will not miss the Italian GP, although the worst-case scenario would be not being able to take part at Monza, some 1,100km away from Zandvoort - about a 14-hour drive to transport road freight. 

Given these travel times and routine paddock set-up required at Monza, this would appear to place a deadline of Monday 26th August for the team to transfer the funds to Uralkali, but the ongoing sanctions against US companies making transactions to Russian companies mean this is not an easy task.

Uralkali has since issued an exclusive statement to RacingNews365 and Formula.Hu, which is available to read here.