Haas F1 Team Responds To Damning Rumours Of Russian Affiliation

The Haas F1 team have released a statement following rumours of Russian affiliation.

Haas have strongly denied the rumours of supplying machines and parts to Russia. 

Reports started circulating over the last couple of days that Haas Automation, who are a team partner for the MoneyGram Haas F1 team, had "directly provided machines and parts to Russia in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions regulations."

The team have now released a statement to diffuse those rumours. It reads:

"On Tuesday, March 14, PBS ran a story alleging that our team partner, Haas Automation, had directly provided machines and parts to Russia in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions regulations.

"As per Haas Automation’s company statement - that story is simply false, both in its overall impression and in many of its particular statements.

"On March 3, 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Haas Automation terminated, in its entirety, its relationship with its sole existing independent distributor for Russia and Belarus, Abamet Management. Since that date, Haas has not sold or shipped any machines, parts, or software to Abamet or anyone else in Russia. This crucial fact was made clear to the PBS reporter before the story was aired.

"Haas Automation has been manufacturing machines for more than 30 years, and there are more than 200,000 Haas machines currently in use throughout the world. Throughout that period, Haas has been a strict adherent to all U.S. export control and sanctions regulations, and an even stronger supporter of the U.S. policy goals many of those regulations are designed to address."

The Haas F1 team cut ties with their Russian title sponsor Uralkali and driver Nikita Mazepin after Russia invaded Ukraine.