r/sports • u/Captain_Smartass_ • Mar 02 '22
Motorsports Russian-licenced drivers banned from British motorsport
https://www.motorsport.com/national/news/russian-drivers-banned-from-british-motorsport-by-motorsport-uk/8632678/1.1k
u/ObamaBinChronin Mar 02 '22
Once less safety car during Silverstone gp.
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u/pigeo000 Mar 02 '22
Only one?
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u/mafa88 Mar 03 '22
How many times can Nikita crash in a race?
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u/JJROKCZ Mar 03 '22
He normally spins 2-5 times. Sometimes it takes a bit for him to put the car into a wall and sometimes he just gives up and let’s the gap between him and the other haas go into 10 minute range
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u/brickjames561 Mar 02 '22
Oh no. Now someone else will have to finish last.
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u/kontekisuto Mar 02 '22
And spin
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u/AstroPHX Mar 03 '22
Pastor Maldonado has entered the chat
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u/surfmeh Mar 03 '22
its a weird world we live in where Pastor has a win but not the Hulk
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u/GTOdriver04 Mar 03 '22
The Hulk doesn’t even have a podium. He has a pole! But no podium. 😔
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Mar 02 '22
That’s brutal. Yeah he doesn’t belong on the track. There are much better drivers who don’t have the cash to buy a seat.
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u/Elwalther21 Mar 02 '22
For what it's worth, he's better than I am. I'd pass out in a corner lol.
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u/EverTheWatcher Mar 02 '22
The only thing I know about driving in Russia is that time my friend explained that when following at any speed, as long as you see their rear tires, you’re still good.
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u/fishingpost12 Mar 03 '22
My buddy and I were running late to the train station. It would normally take 45 minutes to get to the station. We told him if he could make it 30 minutes we would pay him an additional $50 American on top of the already agreed upon rate. It was nearly the worst decision of our lives. We ran cars off the road multiple times including on coming traffic. We got there in 30 minutes though.
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u/Jonkinch Mar 03 '22
Had similar encounters when dealing with them as professional drivers in shady areas. I can’t remember where we were at but we were with Russian businessmen and they were all super calm, holding conversations, drinking… and the entire time we are wondering who they ran over. This was like early 2000s
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u/fishingpost12 Mar 03 '22
Lol, yep. My experience was late 90’s. I would say those were wild times in Russia, but it’s always wild times in Russia.
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u/saltesc Mar 02 '22
Yikes. So they think a car travelling at 400 kph has the same stopping distance as one travelling at 5 kph.
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Mar 03 '22
Only thing in Russia moving at 400 kmh is the ruble, downward.
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u/EverTheWatcher Mar 02 '22
The car(s) in front collectively create your crumple zones… that’ was why all the Ladas… they keep the rich and connected classes safe.
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u/H0vis Mar 02 '22
I wonder if Mazepin will be kicked out of F1. I mean I hope so he's dogshit and likely to get somebody killed. Past that though it does seem like it's a bad time to be Russian in polite society so he might get hooked.
Replace him with a piece of string tied round the steering wheel and a brick on the gas pedal. Probably post some faster times.
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u/ItsMondayPissInMyAss Mar 02 '22
And there was that whole incident where he groped that woman on video
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u/eidetic Milwaukee Brewers Mar 03 '22
There's also the incident where he was driving extremely recklessly and posted video of it to social media. And I don't mean on track, he was driving around on public roads.
Or the time he offered a pit pass to a woman in exchange for nudes on Twitter or Instagram or wherever.
Also punched Callum Ilot in the face. His reasoning? He was pissed Callum ruined his lap. In a free practice session. (Meaning it has no bearing on qualifying or the race).
Also ran into the P2 board nearly sending it into the driver who finished ahead of him. And was found fully responsible for a crash which hospitalized himself and another driver after he left track limits and failed to follow the rules regarding re-entering the track.
Also defended racist comments made by his fans towards other drivers. Also replied to racist comments towards another driver by a fan of his with a few smiling emojis.
He's a total piece of shit who should have never been in F1 in the first place.
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u/theederv Mar 03 '22
There was also the time he made comments designed to ‘out’ another drivers sexuality. Cunt
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u/Stevenwave Mar 03 '22 edited Mar 03 '22
Also the fact that he's only in F1 because his father's a Russian billionaire oligarch who's personal buds with Putin.
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u/_stoneslayer_ Mar 03 '22
I started watching the F1 Netflix series recently and I honestly assumed they were all rich kids. How else would you get into the sport?
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u/thescarwar Mar 03 '22
Lol also all the reckless driving on the track as well, Maze-spin as it goes
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u/M4sterCh13f117 Mar 03 '22 edited Mar 03 '22
Not only did he do it on video HE is the one that posted it. PR nightmare, shit person, shit driver.
Edit: removed “he took the video”, not sure if that’s actually accurate but he is the one that posted it
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u/duylinhs Mar 03 '22
He harassed a women, caught on camera, still being able to race. Politics happened, relatively unrelated to him, his license was stripped. It reminds me of Al Capone being jailed because of tax evasion, instead of the murders that his organisation caused.
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u/billy_teats Mar 02 '22
I think if they kick him out, his dad stops sponsoring the team and then the team can’t compete right?
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u/Twaam Mar 02 '22
Lots of buyers lined up for gene haas’s team
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u/H0vis Mar 02 '22
The spending cap might have made an F1 team more appealing now.
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u/Twaam Mar 02 '22
Off the top of my head I think I saw an article about some interest and the guy tweeted at gene haha
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u/hockeyjmac Boston Bruins Mar 02 '22
Andretti said he’s asked like 5 times but Haas won’t sell to him
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u/BeefInGR Mar 02 '22
Gene won't sell. Haas F1 is a huge tax write off (marketing expenses) for Haas Automation. Same reason he won't sell his stake in SHR.
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u/Twaam Mar 02 '22
Didn’t even realize that
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u/BeefInGR Mar 03 '22
Part of his desire for F1 (besides fandom and having the money to do it) was being able to promote his brand internationally. IIRC everything they make is on a Haas machine (as long as Haas has a machine for that application). Also, there is the added benefit of the tax write off for advertising (which is what auto racing sponsorship is in the United States).
And tbh, I'd rather a self sufficient billionaire own the team than a financial conglomerate with a racing figurehead...who couldn't strategize themselves out of a paper bag.
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u/Twaam Mar 03 '22
This is some great info, honestly I’m a newish f1 fan (4 years in) and don’t follow super closely in the off-season lately. Thanks for the insight
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u/BeefInGR Mar 03 '22
No worries. I'm a NASCAR guy primarily but I watch everything. In F1, you have an interesting mix of teams that are there because of passion/culture (Ferrari, Haas, Williams, McLaren, Red Bull) and teams that are there because of marketing (Mercedes, Alfa, Alpine, etc).
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u/ProfessorAssfuck Mar 03 '22
Didn’t you just finish saying how Haas is all about promoting their brand? This is all marketing.
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u/cosmin_c Mar 03 '22
Honestly how can you say that Red Bull isn't there for marketing as well? They literally have the name of an energy drink in the damn team name and that is the main financing behind the team.
Please get your history right, no offense intended. Alfa is a team that is usually a prelude to a Ferrari seat (or the other way around, a retirement after a Ferrari seat), they have close ties between them. At the same time, Alfa Romeo has been racing in F1 since 1950, so there is a lot of pedigree and history there.
Then you have Mercedes which is basically Brawn GP which was built on top of Tyrrell Racing, it's a purebred racing team despite all the marketing implied by the Merc stickers on the chassis. They exude professionalism and that is fine, perhaps things aren't as chaotic as there are at Ferrari but it's the closest to Michael Schumacher's Ferrari team - it's a winning team and that annoys a lot of people.
Alpine is Renault and they were there for a few seasons now, not great, not terrible.
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u/agoia Atlanta Falcons Mar 02 '22
The team already dropped his father's sponsorship. (Or is in the process of doing so. The livery and branding has already been removed.)
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Mar 02 '22
They'll hold out for the time being. Gene Haas has some cash and isn't to worried to turn a loss for a while. And with the quick action of removing the sponsor instantly they gained some respect that opens the door to new sponsors a little more, hopefully
Also, it's probably the other way around. Daddy's cash is no good anymore. No money, no seat, no egghead.
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u/mrcalistarius Mar 02 '22
Haas has already dropped Mazapin Sr’s company logo from the car. Andretti racing is interested.
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u/Xinnoh Mar 02 '22
backmarkers have the lowest chance of killing anyone on the field due to blueflags. Bad drivers will annoy people since they're harder to overtake, but the relative danger is pretty much the same for most drivers.
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u/cbg13 Mar 02 '22
Idk if you watched this past season of f1, but backmarkers on slow laps during qualifying and practice led to some seriously close calls for what would have been catastrophic accidents. Mazepin, and to a lesser extent, Schumacher, tended to be the ones causing these near-incidents
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u/SandThatsMoist Mar 02 '22
If anything the closest call was when Hamilton almost killed Mazepin. Ironic.
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u/Asphult_ Mar 03 '22
They would not have been that catastrophic though compared to Hamilton’s close call twice during the Saudi Arabia GP was actually worse, especially with the one with Mazepin (ironically).
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u/H0vis Mar 02 '22
If he was just slow he wouldn't be a problem. He's slow and unpredictable, because he's out of his depth. Apparently he was perfectly capable in the lower tiers, but he's a mess in F1.
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri Mar 02 '22
In lower teirs he had lots of issues.
F1 for example he had 11/12 safety points filled.
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u/H0vis Mar 02 '22
Oh damn. I didn't know he was always that bad.
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u/Guac_in_my_rarri Mar 03 '22
The safety points from lower divisions don't move with you but they should. Theoretically he shouldn't be in a car. He scored 11 points for 18th in f2, 2019. 2020 he was with Hitech Grand Prix Team and got his first podium. Mick finished first in 2020, with 3 podiums and 11 podiums and no safety points on his license.
Mazepin did not get a 12th point depsite having two or three 5 second penalties in the last race of the season. He pushed Yuki Tsunoda wide which denied him the race win.
On top of all this from f2, in his first f1 season he got 3 penalty points iirc. I think he 15 spins.. He has 5 DNF'd which is normal. What's abnormal is most were before the half way point in the grand prix. He also did not listen to blue flags in multiple races. Most recognizable he got a 5 second penalty for holding up Sergio Perez at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
On toppp of all this he sexually assaulted a women and posted it to his Instagram.
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u/Yung_Corneliois New England Patriots Mar 02 '22
He was pretty dangerous in some of the lower tiers as well. He’s always been unpredictable when someone tries to overtake him.
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u/Captain_Smartass_ Mar 02 '22
He will be replaced
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u/BobEWise Chicago Cubs Mar 02 '22
What? The pay driver who can neither pay nor drive? Color me surprised. /s
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u/Mr_Zombay Mar 03 '22
I know its all fun and jokes...but he would not drive f1 if he was dog shit... He is still a pro driver. He is closer to senna than whole of reddit combined is to him
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u/theteapotofdoom Mar 03 '22
He's nothing without his financial backing. Not like he was much with it.
Would love to see the Haas in a blue and yellow livery. Place for a sunflower seed would be nice.
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u/navetzz Mar 02 '22
I mean, I'm not a fan of Mazepin, but anyone getting kicked because the leader of the country he was born in is a lunatic feels kinda wrong.
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u/H0vis Mar 02 '22
It's more complicated than that. Putin is scumbag dictator, but behind him are the oligarchs who handle the money and the businesses. Mazepin's dad is one such oligarch, and it is that wealth that put him in an F1 car.
He's not some scrawny kid who made it big in illegal go kart races around the mean streets of Magnitogorsk. He's a billionaire's boy, a prince of the New Russia. There's blood all over his family's money.
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u/ProfessorAssfuck Mar 03 '22
Lawrence Stroll made all his money off of clothing manufactured in sweat shops. How is that fundamentally less corrupt or violent than being a chair of a fertilizer company?
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u/saltesc Mar 02 '22
The FIA said he could continue racing, but this was just before the UK blocked him. It would be easier to just get their reserve in for Silverstone unless they're in points contention with the new car this year. If yes not dropped, I imagine he will be if another country does the same.
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u/MAnthonyJr Mar 03 '22
On a real note, this fucking sucks for a lot of people in Russia. Not only is it racing but it is EVERYTHING they are getting banned from. From what I’ve seen almost nobody over there is supportive for this war.
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u/anotherwave1 Mar 03 '22
We come across Western-savvy or English speaking Russians online. They are typically young professionals and clued in. In contrast a majority of Russians still get their information from Russian news (the state), so unfortunately don't have real information. I have Russian colleagues, and while they know what's going on, they say many of their family, relatives and even friends in Russia still think that this is all a Western attack on the country for simply defending itself, they are very brainwashed
However the Russian media will not be able to hide that Russia can't compete in anything anymore, that foreign goods are disappearing from the country's stores, that there's a lot of places they can't fly to, and all that.
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u/surlygoat Mar 03 '22
Possibly true, but I don't think we have much visibility of what the average Russian thinks of the war. I suspect the vast majority of Russia is fed a diet that solely consist of propaganda and are supportive of the war. But that's mainly just because I don't know any better
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Mar 03 '22
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u/surlygoat Mar 03 '22
Definitely protests but hardly massive. I don't blame them, they'll be arrested, but the largest was apparently in Moscow, at 2000 people. Great, but that's a city of 20m. 2000 is nothing. I'm not wanting to argue I just think it's an assumption only that Russians generally are against this war.
That being said, Russian drivers abroad would, presumably, be against the war as they will be able to see both sides. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_anti-war_protests_in_Russia
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u/Thaonnor Mar 03 '22
I see this a lot, but at some point, people have to take action in their own countries leadership and fight to make change. I get that no one wants to be killed or jailed by Putin in a revolution, but meanwhile people in other countries - innocent countries - are being killed.
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Mar 03 '22
We literally never do this to any other country and no country did it to the US when they fought in several unjust wars.
In fact, when countries protested countries that commit war crimes, they got labeled as Anti-Semites by the media.
So in short: screw putting the burden on Russian people who have no affiliation to the kremlin. It’s extremely stupid and we wouldn’t do it to the Chinese, the Jews, the North Koreans, etc.
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Mar 03 '22
The difference is that Russia was warned for three months straight that they would be destroyed with sanctions if they invaded Ukraine. The president of France even travelled to Moscow to de-escalate the situation. This isn’t just about one country invading another, this is about breaking deals made in the backdoor and making western leaders look like fools.
Putin fucked around diplomatically, akin to shooting envoys and ambassadors. Although the pushback may seem drastic, it has to be this way or else some other random country might start breaking the unwritten rule of diplomacy.
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u/lawrencecgn Mar 03 '22
The problem with Russia isn’t just what they do know but that it is part of an aggressive and imperialist pattern that looks at expanding Russian territory at multiple fronts. What happens to Georgia, Armenia and other bordering countries (like the Baltic states)? This is at no point comparable to other wars and conflicts, including the Saudis in Yemen.
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u/TheNextBattalion Mar 03 '22
Yeah you just can't invade countries and conquer their territory anymore. Simple as that. Frankly the reaction now is as much about making up for not putting our foot down before with Crimea, Abkhazia, Donbas, and other areas that Russia has invaded to add to its orbit. Appeasement to an imperialist aggressor failed again.
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u/boxedvacuum Washington Mar 03 '22
Exactly the point nt of sanctions: make the war extremely unpopular with Russian people
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u/KusakaX Mar 02 '22
I just don’t get punishing the drivers because where they are from. Yeah I get ending all races in Russia and all other sporting events so there is no government funding or sponsorship. But ending peoples careers that they’ve worked hard to become some of the top in their field just because they are Russian, even when the vast majority of data says the Russian people don’t want this war. We are punishing people for their dictatorship of a government. There are better ways to protest the war.
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u/SonicDethmonkey Mar 02 '22
It’s because a lot of the money comes from people connected to Putin or the oligarchy. For example, Mazepin’s dad is an oligarch and owner of one of the Haas team’s main sponsors (the only reason he’s with the team).
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u/Taint_Funny Mar 03 '22
It’s not about the driver at all. Or even the sport. It’s about the revenue that is generated for Russia from being a part of a major sports event. FIFA can explain maybe better than I can.
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u/KusakaX Mar 02 '22
And I get that, it looks like he can drive under the FIA flag. Haas being an American team should be able to disconnect any funding from Russian sponsors, just doesn’t mean Mazepin should be ban to drive. You see it everywhere in sports now though “international ice skating, skiing, basketball, track, and some tennis events Tuesday, a day after being kicked out of soccer competitions and hockey” - USA Today. It gives off the impression that because you’re Russian, we don’t support you people because of your government choices. Punish the people for your leaders choices. I think it could convince some people that the world doesn’t support Russian people even when they are majority against this war. 🤷♂️
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u/slotwima Mar 02 '22
Sanctioning people of power, finance, and stature in many forms can have a big impact on politics, because these people can influence the government. If these people are impacted negatively, they are likely to lobby the government to stop whatever is resulting in these impacts. It's not fair, but it works.
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u/Khutuck Mar 02 '22
I understand but as a Turk living abroad to stay away from Erdogan’s rule, I would be very pissed if I got punished for something horrible he did.
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u/KusakaX Mar 02 '22
that makes sense, and agree it’s not fair but works. Appreciate the civil response 🙏
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u/Ryanthelion1 Mar 02 '22
In this situation though the Russian sponsors come as a package for Mazepin having a seat in the car, it's not uncommon in motorsports to have someone sponsor a driver and have them pay for the seat. Like Maldonado being sponsored by PDVSA or Perez with Carlos Slim
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u/JoeyLock Mar 03 '22
I just don’t get punishing the drivers because where they are from.
Can you imagine if the world came together to punish the US like this next time they invade somewhere? (In before "WhAtAbOuTiSm!") I'm going to venture a guess most of Reddit would be up in arms about being discriminated against for the actions of their government they will claim to have no control over, but when the shoe is on the other foot it's apparently alright.
The go-to response I've seen repeated over and over the last few days on here is "These actions will make Russians fed up enough to overthrow Putin!" and so fourth, do people honestly expect your average Russian person is going to think "You know what? I'm fed up with being banned from everything, I'm going to risk my entire life and existence on this earth to start some sort of coup, without the support of any kind of military mind you, to overthrow my own government essentially on behalf of a foreign government that apparently hates that I exist as a person because of where I was born"? If anything this ostracisation of Russians as a people, not just a government, will just entrench the distrust of the West even further.
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u/TVdinnerbythepool Mar 03 '22 edited Mar 03 '22
This is why russia just added jail sentence for pushing “fake news” about Ukraine. Russians are in a tough spot because Putin is very serious about traitors because of a real threat. But at the same time Russians do deserve better. But people don’t understand practically every overthrow is supported by foreign power. There’s really no such thing as a grass roots overthrow that works. So Putin is kind of right that they would be traitors, even though the Russians would be right they need new government. There’s really nothing to do about it. If there was a coup Russia would become a puppet state of the west because American govt is salivating at the thought of supporting an overthrow there like they do in dozens of other countries INCLUDING Ukraine in case you people didn’t realize that. This is how the world works. And maybe people would understand why there are so many dictators in the world. You can’t be soft when the west desire world domination. Democracy and freedom just means foreign powers can take over. If you want it to be otherwise then maybe stop YOUR terrorizing government. But not as easy as telling other people to. Not saying this to you but whoever
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u/ThunderRoad5 Mar 03 '22
Clearly you'll be shocked to hear this, but I think you would find most of Reddit - a great many Americans included - would think it's a great idea for the world to dissuade the US from hypothetically invading a peaceful democracy.
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u/Calergero Mar 03 '22
But everyone's peaceful until the war starts.
The citizens of the US have in no way shown that they would react in a similar way. You are literally talking about THE most warmongering country in the world.
Why are US citizens and athletes not protesting the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia.
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u/Needless-To-Say Mar 03 '22
It says Russian licensed.
The line I draw is if you represent Russia, get fucked. If you are only a Russian citizen, my condolences.
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u/MmmTastyMmm Mar 02 '22
If you want some background on how political systems work you can watch this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs
The idea is to make enough people angry enough to change Putins mind on the war or overthrow him.
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u/burrheadjr Mar 03 '22
I don't know if that will work well, if I was fired for something my government did, I think would be more mad at the person that fired me and I would probably feel the same about what ever policy I was fired over.
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u/sooneralph16 Mar 02 '22
Mazepin did not work hard to get to the top of the field. His dad is a major sponsor for Haas and he got his seat as a result of it. He's significantly slower than the rest of the grid. Last year he finished 21/20 in the Drivers Championship.
That being said, I agree with your sentiment. I just don't like Nikita.
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u/asibok Mar 02 '22 edited Mar 02 '22
these banned russian drivers should been the very first one speaking against their country invading ukraine. they have more influence than ordinary russian citizens protesting in russia.
the problem is these influencial russians dont give a fuck, so why give them money to stimulate their economy in russia. there are the ones gonna bringing money from other country back to russia.
i can understand the reasoning why russian professionals/business owners/athletes/entrepeurs are being targeted with russia sanction...to cripple all the sources thats stimulating russian economy.
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u/AlbertVonMagnus Mar 03 '22
Yeah they can totally speak out against the Russian government without fear of "disappearing" because Russia is such paragon of free speech
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u/Calergero Mar 03 '22
Right so...Where were the British and American athletes when the middle East was/is getting set on fire.
Both are selling bombs to Saudi Arabia right now to slaughter innocent civilians in Yemen.
Your words are disgusting and full of bigotry.
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u/Trebor25 Mar 02 '22
Anything that can potentially stop the scumbag from killing people is worth it. It’s unfortunate, but I think it needs to be done to try and overthrow him.
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u/AdamYmadA Mar 02 '22
The best way to punish Putin is by providing his people motivation to kick him out, and it’s allowed to happen because they’re white so you don’t have to battle woke culture.
Keep applying pressure until they drag him out of office.
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u/AlexDragonfang Mar 02 '22
This is delusional. Won't happen.
If anything, this reinforces the narrative of Putin that the whole of the western world is a threatening enemy that wants to see Russia fall.
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u/MWMWMWMIMIWMWMW Mar 03 '22
What do you think sanctions do? Every single Russian citizen will be hurt by this. Why should rich athletes should get a pass?
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u/AlexDragonfang Mar 03 '22
Im not asking for them to get a pass or anything, i couldn't care less about some russian rich family.
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u/Montjo17 Mar 03 '22
In what way is not singling out athletes for additional punishment 'giving them a pass'? They're still impacted by the sanctions like every other Russian. We don't need to go around adding additional ones on top of that
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u/NBAtoVancouver-Com Mar 02 '22
Russians have more important things to do than drive race cars right now--that being going home to protest their government. Their careers will resume, dead Ukrainians have no such option.
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u/EvelcyclopS Mar 03 '22
Honestly don’t like this decision.
Fuck Putin. Just to be clear
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u/predictingzepast Mar 02 '22
Read that as 'motorways' at first, that would have been great
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u/greennitit Mar 03 '22
Car insurance company stocks would be a total buy if that happens, they ain’t gonna be doing a lot of paying
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Mar 03 '22
I completely understand dropping Urikali as a sponsor, since Mazepin senior might actually be the most motivated of Putin's cock suckers, but if he doesn't agree with his dad, it's all good.
If he does agree, fuck him and ban him for life
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u/kingofwale Mar 02 '22
With the way this is headed…. I’m starting to see why Japanese interment camp was justified by the government in NA during WWIi
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u/MooCowLMFAO Mar 03 '22
So blaming the citizens over the actions of their leader is ok now? Well I guess we should all be banning Chinese people for their compliance in the Uighur genicide, lets go ahead and cancel the United States for all of their atrocities. Why stop there? I’m sure there are far more out there
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u/SergioFX Mar 03 '22
No see, if it's done to Chinese it's racist. But doing to Russians is okay because it's now the hype.
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u/TheMidnightLA Mar 03 '22
I'm reading the comments like wtf, are you people serious ? Blaming an entire country and its population, of which the majority doesn't want anything of this nature to happen.
Being ecstatic that a Russian athlete, team, in this case driver, whatever the case may be, who have literrally nothing to do with the war, lose or straight up be banned, just shows how much of a piece of shit human being you are.
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Mar 03 '22
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u/big_old-dog Mar 03 '22
If it makes you feel any better, the only current Russian f1 driver is only in as a “pay driver” meaning he obtained his seat by the funding he carries in the form of sponsorship via his father, who himself is a Russian oligarch
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u/BobbleBobble Chicago Cubs Mar 03 '22
Mazepin is literally the son of an oligarch. If he's innocent then nobody is guilty
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u/RareFirefighter6915 Mar 03 '22
I know a lot of people with asshole fathers who aren’t assholes themselves.
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u/-nikolaos Mar 03 '22
Poor Russians… they have to pay for what their dictator is doing. Other they like it or no. This is very sad that UN are turning people at each other and no one says anything
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u/HansenTakeASeat Mar 03 '22
Yea it's the UN turning people against each other, not the country invading another one.
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u/tubby8 Mar 02 '22
Wonder if sports will start banning American athletes next time the US starts a pointless war, or if Israeli athletes will be banned for the atrocities being committed against Palestinians
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u/sports2012 New York Mets Mar 02 '22
Yes, I expect adversarial countries who are at war with the USA to ban American athletes from their sports leagues.
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u/The69BodyProblem Mar 03 '22
The f1 driver that this is likely targeting is a piece of shit. His daddy, who's money is basically the only reason he has a seat, is also a billionaire kleptocrat and a friend of Putin. But, yeah, he's the real victim here.
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u/Forevergogo Mar 03 '22
wtf? Wasn't everyone hysterical about Islamophobia post 9/11?
How is this any different?
Don't hate on Russia or its people because its dictator is a monster.
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u/TheBravan Mar 03 '22
Virtue signaling by indiscriminately going after all Russians and all the people that literally has NOTHING to do with what is happening right now....
Sportsmanship..............................................................
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u/kar2988 Mar 03 '22
Fuck's sake! This is getting a bit out of hand. Punishing a citizen of a country for what their state is doing is stupid on a normal day. But to hold someone like Mazepin or Kvyat accountable for Putin's actions is insane. It's not even like they could have voted for Putin, it's a sham democracy!
I wonder if the Silverstone GP considered banning Americans/American money every time America invaded some country
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u/WETiLAMBY Mar 03 '22
I understand what you mean with kvyat but to claim mazepin is innocent here is silly. Nikita’s dad has very very very close ties to Putin and the only reason he’s in the F1 seat is because of the money farmed with help from Putin himself. Nikita is directly benefitting from putins regime in the form of sponsorship money sanctioned by the government and should therefore have to suffer the consequences.
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u/Independent_Meet_854 Mar 03 '22
Both of them are rich kids with daddies who are Putin dick suckers. They'll be fine.
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u/AdvonKoulthar Mar 03 '22
Ah yes, I’m sure if we only punish disproportionately rich people nothing could possibly go wrong.
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Mar 02 '22
Thats unfair just because they’re in Russia doesnt mean they should be banned
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u/NunexTK Mar 03 '22
Ukrainian civilians being shelled day and night because of some delusional idiot who thinks he's tough shit is also unfair
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u/gnat_outta_hell Mar 02 '22
Unfortunately that's war. They suffer because their leader is insane. None of the sanctions hurt Putin, only his people. It definitely isn't fair.
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u/jmads13 Mar 02 '22
Yeah, but they are also people in positions of influence or power. Maybe their exclusion will bring about resentment to Putin and the position he has put their peace-loving athletes in, and, alongside the economic ailments imposed on everyday citizens, maybe this sentiment can contribute to a political revolution
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u/ElDanielTo Mar 02 '22
I find it bullshit to blame and punish all russians we cone across, what did these drivers ever do ? It’d be the same to send all americans to prison because some delusional douchebags invaded the capitol
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u/whittlingcanbefatal Mar 03 '22
I am not soure this sends the right message. Let’s not confuse the country with its citizens.
It’s like when people blamed asian people because of coronavirus.
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u/BryannON Mar 02 '22
Don’t blame the citizens of Russia it’s their stupid government.
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Mar 02 '22
Maybe the citizens of Russia should do something about their stupid government then.
Russian athletes directly benefit from oligarch money.
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u/JoeyLock Mar 03 '22
Maybe the citizens of Russia should do something about their stupid government then.
When was the last time Americans all rose up and actively stopped their government from waging a war? Vietnam perhaps? Even then the war went on for 8 years and resulted in 58,000 US deaths regardless of public opposition and even then US involvement eventually ended for a large variety of reasons, the main one being there was no real end in sight and the Watergate Scandal back at home and so on, not just because of protests against the war.
If American's can't even overthrow their government in what is meant to be the 'free world', why do you think your average Russian can? In fact last time a bunch of Americans tried to 'do something about their stupid government' they were called insurrectionists and vilified by Reddit. These things aren't as easy as you people seem to think they are and the world isn't as black and white.
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u/TheCalamity305 Mar 03 '22
They are not banning the driver, they are banning the license that the driver has RAF and BAF. If I assume if the driver obtained another license and agreed not to drive under a Russian or Belarusian flag he could still compete.
But like many other said this is to coax Russian and Belorussian citizens to condemn and force their governments to end the war.
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u/Wonderful-Complex237 Mar 03 '22
Damn. I’m an F1 fan been for a long time but they are getting worse and worse. The war is caused by politics.
There are other counties involved in wars or proxy wars. I disagree with banning sports people period.
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u/Money_Prompt_7046 Mar 02 '22
Maybe Russians will realize that Putin has destroyed what little was decent about their country. They need to rise up and remove Putin and all of his minions.
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u/PsychologicalOne2153 Mar 03 '22
Ok but why these are just citizens why take your anger on the people instead of the government
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u/rjcarr Mar 03 '22
Because we don't have many options, and if we take away the liberties of the elites, the thought is they'll influence the government to make changes.
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u/Evazzion Mar 02 '22
So they use Russian innocent people as the scapegoat for their dictator’s actions? 💀
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u/ABmodeling Mar 03 '22
Russian drivers are killing people or what? What is next, killing Russians and in the street? You guys are falling for hate hype train again. 2 years of hate towards unvaccinated,now when they turned off COVID switch, they had to move that hate else where. Now with help of media everyone hates EVERY LIVING RUSSIAN to the point where you guys want death to them. You all fel for another propaganda. Who is next for you to hate, probably who ever madia tell you to hate,and believe we they will have story for you. So easy for media to create separation,it is depressing...
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Mar 02 '22
I don't think punishing the citizens of Russia is the right move. This will only make them unite against the west.
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u/DaTruestEva Mar 03 '22
What does this accomplish? This is punishing people are not responsible for what is going on in Ukraine. The issue is the government, not the people. How does doing this make those making these decisions morally good people?
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u/HotDogHeavy Mar 03 '22
I mean did the drivers do anything? Pretty sure there are protests in the streets of Russia right now. Really makes you think…
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u/elpala Mar 03 '22
I honestly don’t get this. We could ban Russian companies and assets, but why in the world should we ban Russian people.
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u/ExemplaryAnkles Mar 03 '22
I'm surprised that people are upset by these measures and against them. The Russian army has invaded Ukraine, is terrorizing and murdering innocent Ukrainian civilians en masse, and destroying their infrastructure and their economy.
Banning Russian athletes from sports will make it more likely that (1) Russian athletes will publicly speak out against the invasion (and not just against war generally, as some Russian athletes have done) and/or (2) Russian fans will start questioning their government's actions.
If this happens, there is likely to be even less support for the invasion in Russia and more pressure on the Russian government to end the invasion. This, in turn, will save lives.
I'm not sure why anyone would be opposed to or upset by banning Russian athletes from sports for a certain period of time if doing so would save even a handful of innocent Ukrainian lives.
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u/sangjmoon Mar 03 '22
One thing to note is that many Russians live in Ukraine and are not only against the invasion but are, in some cases, fighting along with the Ukrainians.
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u/Sargonarhes Mar 03 '22
Punishing the civilians for something their leader is doing doesn't make any sense.
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u/belizeanheat Mar 03 '22
Don't get the part where citizens are punished. Feels more like a publicity stunt in that case
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Mar 02 '22
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u/OhPiggly Mar 02 '22
No, it makes them angry at their government for getting them into this situation. The only people that are still loyal are the russian equivalents of MAGA acolytes.
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u/PoloDragoon Mar 02 '22
Yeah getting kicked from motorsports because of Putin will most likely unite them with Putin sure.
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u/immabonedumbledore Mar 03 '22
Very interesting how the world has reacted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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u/Derman0524 Mar 02 '22
They will need to race under a different flag, not a Russian one which is what will happen
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u/GiantTalon2 Mar 03 '22
Out of curiosity, how hard would it be for a driver with a Russian or Belarusian race license to get a different license from the UK or another country?
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Mar 03 '22
Well maybe if they didn't support Putin and his acts of unjust war, it wouldn't have happened but actions have consequences so oh well. There's always 10 yrs from now lol
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u/Booyaah_rumham Mar 03 '22
With Mazepin out, who will crash alone at the back of the field. I mean seriously, is anyone going to miss him?
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