Russian drivers banned from competing as Russians.

[Everso Biggyballies]

This is bound to get the attention of @Antonov who will no doubt be somewhat distraught over this news.

In effect the words Russia or Russian have been banned in F1

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced in December that it had upheld a ban on Russia from competing at world championship sporting events, relating to state-sponsored doping and cover-ups at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

However it was not clear whether this would involve Motor Racing.

Now the Russian Automobile Federation has now announced that it received clarifications from the FIA concerning the CAS ruling this week, confirming it would impact drivers competing in world championship series.. Drivers will be permitted to call themselves a "neutral athlete from Russia" or be listed as "Russia. Neutral athlete", but not simply as Russian.

It means that Mazepin will be forbidden from racing under the Russian flag for the next two seasons. Kvyat it seems escaped at the right time.

It does not mean Russian drivers cannot compete, but it does mean they cannot compete as a Russian without the neutral athlete confirmation.

For instance Mazepin has already announced he will race under a neutral flag rather than anything associated with Russia for the next two years.

As an aside this ruling also forbids the playing of the Russian national anthem at FIA events, meaning it will not be played ahead of the grand prix in Sochi, nor for any Russian victory during the podium ceremony. (Maybe they will find a drunk with a trombone to play Happy Birthday in its place..... as happened when Alan Jones won his first GP and there was no Australian Anthem available so a substitution Anthem happened

Of course the hypocrisy that is F1 means that we will still have a Russian GP. That is set to be unaffected by the ruling despite a previous WADA ban on the country hosting sporting events during the sanction period, should the race not be cancellable due to contractual clauses. Maybe they will have tocall it something else. (seems quite fashionable these days to have GPs not named after the host country, last years double headers being a prime example.)

The race organiser, Rosgonki, said following the initial WADA ruling in December 2019 that its contract was in place until 2025, and that it was "confident that the Russian Grand Prix will take place in 2020 and subsequent years". That I guess is something needing further clarification

It is not just F1 that it affects..... Russian drivers in all of the FIA's world championships - including Formula E, WRC, WEC and WRX - will also be prohibited from using national emblems, flags or symbols, as well as the word "Russia" or "Russian".

One interesting exception......It seems Ferrari junior driver Robert Shwartzman will be permitted to still race under the Russian flag in Formula 2 as it is not an FIA world championship, putting it outside of the CAS ruling.

It seems Russian Officials can still go to races, and even Putin is allowed to sneak in to the GP formerly known as the Russian GP.

[Antonov]

I will need some time to get process this

[Michael Ferner]

So, that means... what? Nothing? Or, even less than nothing? What will be next? "The winning driver's name is Hamilton, but we're not allowed to tell you his first name"? "The red car leads from the yellow one, and the one which colour we are not allowed to mention, then the white one"? "The interview with the winner will be held in a 'neutral' language, because he comes from a 'neutral' country"?

As an aside this ruling also forbids the playing of the Russian national anthem at FIA events, meaning it will not be played ahead of the grand prix in Sochi, nor for any Russian victory during the podium ceremony. (Maybe they will find a drunk with a trombone to play Happy Birthday in its place..... as happened when Alan Jones won his first GP and there was no Australian Anthem available so a substitution Anthem happened

Main reason for posting is to bust this myth: when Jones won in Austria with the Shadow, the Australian national anthem WAS played, the spectator with the instrument played several tunes, but not Happy Birthday, he played a trumpet, not a trombone, and he was most likely not even tipsy. Still, this nonsense will probably still be posted in a hundred years, because people want to believe it.

[Everso Biggyballies]

As an aside this ruling also forbids the playing of the Russian national anthem at FIA events, meaning it will not be played ahead of the grand prix in Sochi, nor for any Russian victory during the podium ceremony. (Maybe they will find a drunk with a trombone to play Happy Birthday in its place..... as happened when Alan Jones won his first GP and there was no Australian Anthem available so a substitution Anthem happened

Main reason for posting is to bust this myth: when Jones won in Austria with the Shadow, the Australian national anthem WAS played, the spectator with the instrument played several tunes, but not Happy Birthday, he played a trumpet, not a trombone, and he was most likely not even tipsy. Still, this nonsense will probably still be posted in a hundred years, because people want to believe it.

Well yes you are right it was a trumpet not a trombone. I realised when I wrote it but somehow forgot to edit it.
However, as to the truth or myth of the story, I have heard on many occasions Alan Jones himself relating the story in TV interviews. I recall him talking of there being many drunks with trumpets to chose from. So Jones himself is guilty of spreading false rumours and perpetuating the story.
In his own words regarding his first (unexpected) win and the lack of an Aussie Anthem.:

“Well, certainly the organisers obviously didn’t expect it to happen because they didn’t have the Australian national anthem,”
“So a drunk played Happy Birthday on a trumpet — of which there were plenty in Austria.”

[Vassago]

But the Russian Grand Prix remains the Russian Grand Prix

CAS just can't get out of its own way in this purge of the comrades.

[John]

So it turns out that state sanctioned doping programs doesn't gel that well with international sports.

Huh.

[Vassago]

So it turns out that state sanctioned doping programs doesn't gel that well with international sports.

Huh.

But F1 doesn't have a medal system (RIP Bernie's dumb ideas) nor a nations classification to begin with. It's a World Championship where the ONLY prize for finishing 2nd or 3rd is money. And CAS can't do anything to ban prize money. Hell, some teams even take away the drivers' GP trophies since they believe those belong to the team, not the driver and deffo not a nation he represents

CAS has simply lost all the plot. Just wait until December 2022 until this BS is finally over.

One must argue UEFA had more integrity when they banned ALL English teams from European Cups for six years after the Heysel disaster.

[XcraigX]

"The interview with the winner will be held in a 'neutral' language, because he comes from a 'neutral' country"?

From now on all interviews will be held in Esparanto.

I mean, I get that Russia is banned from international sports due to various doping and corruption scandals. But there is no official Russian backing for F1 drivers, is there? Seems a bit silly to ban individuals not operating for the state.

And I agree they should drop Sochi from the calendar for this and a million other reasons (track sucks, etc.).

[Everso Biggyballies]

"The interview with the winner will be held in a 'neutral' language, because he comes from a 'neutral' country"?

From now on all interviews will be held in Esparanto.

I mean, I get that Russia is banned from international sports due to various doping and corruption scandals. But there is no official Russian backing for F1 drivers, is there? Seems a bit silly to ban individuals not operating for the state.

And I agree they should drop Sochi from the calendar for this and a million other reasons (track sucks, etc.).

Re Russian backing in F1, I suspect there will be a few Uralkali stickers on the Haas this year. (The (Fertilizer) company owned by Mazepin Snr that has appeared on his sons cars) Obviously they are Russian, albeit privately owned rather than State owned.
Traditionally we have had a lot of Russian sponsors in F1, especially backing Russian drivers such as Petrov and Sirotkin.

Agreed re give Sochi the flick.

[John]

So it turns out that state sanctioned doping programs doesn't gel that well with international sports.

Huh.

But F1 doesn't have a medal system (RIP Bernie's dumb ideas) nor a nations classification to begin with. It's a World Championship where the ONLY prize for finishing 2nd or 3rd is money. And CAS can't do anything to ban prize money. Hell, some teams even take away the drivers' GP trophies since they believe those belong to the team, not the driver and deffo not a nation he represents

CAS has simply lost all the plot. Just wait until December 2022 until this BS is finally over.

One must argue UEFA had more integrity when they banned ALL English teams from European Cups for six years after the Heysel disaster.

But the FIA work alongside WADA and anything that comes out of CAS is effective in all sports worldwide except I'm guessing a select few North American sports leagues such as the NHL, NBA, NFL, NCAA and MLB. But obviously CAS wanted to throw the book at the Russians.

[White six]

So nobody is allowed to dress up as a Russian either?

[John]

So nobody is allowed to dress up as a Russian either?

Nor buy a Russian nesting doll.

[Everso Biggyballies]

The funny thing is a Russian driver cannot wear a miniature Russian flag on his driving sort or even say Russia on it, yet any spectator can waltz into a GP with as many Russian flags of any size that he/she can carry. Go figure.
Also the GP in Russia can still be called the Russian GP......

They would not even know how to spell consistency, let alone practice it.

[White six]

Russians love their children too. I think we're in danger of forgetting that

[Michael Ferner]

As an aside this ruling also forbids the playing of the Russian national anthem at FIA events, meaning it will not be played ahead of the grand prix in Sochi, nor for any Russian victory during the podium ceremony. (Maybe they will find a drunk with a trombone to play Happy Birthday in its place..... as happened when Alan Jones won his first GP and there was no Australian Anthem available so a substitution Anthem happened

Main reason for posting is to bust this myth: when Jones won in Austria with the Shadow, the Australian national anthem WAS played, the spectator with the instrument played several tunes, but not Happy Birthday, he played a trumpet, not a trombone, and he was most likely not even tipsy. Still, this nonsense will probably still be posted in a hundred years, because people want to believe it.

Well yes you are right it was a trumpet not a trombone. I realised when I wrote it but somehow forgot to edit it.
However, as to the truth or myth of the story, I have heard on many occasions Alan Jones himself relating the story in TV interviews. I recall him talking of there being many drunks with trumpets to chose from. So Jones himself is guilty of spreading false rumours and perpetuating the story.
In his own words regarding his first (unexpected) win and the lack of an Aussie Anthem.:

“Well, certainly the organisers obviously didn’t expect it to happen because they didn’t have the Australian national anthem,”
“So a drunk played Happy Birthday on a trumpet — of which there were plenty in Austria.”

Yeah, I think that was a bit of a political argument, wasn't it? Somebody from Oz told me this story, that there were in effect two Australian anthems at the time (old & new), and Master Jones didn't like the one that was played for political reasons. Something like, the new anthem was supported by a party Jonesy didn't like, and thus Mr. Grumpy was a little pissed off and said they played something stupid like Happy Birthday.