Haas may face delays in travelling to the Italian GP as there is still disagreement with Uralkali over whether a payment of around $9 million was made to the Russian company.
On Thursday evening, bailiffs and police inspected cars and equipment in the pit lane at Zandvoort after Uralkali claimed last month that Haas had missed a deadline agreed in July to repay a terminated sponsorship contract.
Following a hearing before a Swiss arbitration tribunal in June, it was ruled that Haas Uralkali must repay part of the sponsorship payments it made for 2022 before the title deal was cancelled as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company had also been promised a Formula 1 car under the original terms of the partnership.
While the court found that Haas had the right to terminate the contract, it also stated that the US team could only keep a portion of the $13 million sponsorship sum paid for the campaign.
Haas was therefore required to repay the remainder of the sponsorship payment beyond March 4, 2022, when the contract was cancelled.
Although it was agreed that Haas could take part in the Dutch Grand Prix as usual, the team was told that it would not be allowed to remove its cars and equipment from the country after the race until the outstanding payments had been made.
Sources told Motorsport.com that Uralkali believes no effort was made to pay out the refund until an attempt was made to seize Haas’ assets at Zandvoort.
Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-21
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Haas insists the payment was made Friday night, and owner Gene Haas said Sunday afternoon that “everything is now cleared up.”
The payment was apparently processed via the Middle East. Haas had initially stated that every transaction had to ensure that the sanctions imposed on various Russian companies were fully complied with.
In its statement on Friday, it said: “Haas fully intends to pay Uralkali all amounts due under the arbitration award and there is no dispute as to the amounts owed.”
“Haas has worked with its lawyers to ensure that the payment complies with all relevant US, EU, UK and Swiss sanctions and regulations.
“We will continue to work with Uralkali in the coming days to finally resolve this matter.”
Uralkali did not accept the sanctions as a reason for the delay in payment and stated on Sunday that the funds had still not been received and that, due to the weekend, it did not expect any notification of a deposit.
It is also understood that Uralkali is waiting for a logistics plan that will determine how and when the promised F1 car will be delivered.
Only if Uralkali withdraws its application to the Dutch courts will Haas be allowed to leave the Netherlands with its equipment and head to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix next week.
Even if this process were activated, it could still ultimately cause delays for Haas when it comes to packing its cargo before traveling to Italy.
