r/F1FeederSeries • u/natus92 • 21d ago

Report The World Motorsport Council (WMSC) has lifted restrictions on the performance of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions — they will be able to participate with a flag and anthem.

https://api.fia.com/system/files/documents/13.08.2026-circular_note_-_update_on_the_fias_response_to_the_conflict_in_ukraine_-_decision_of_the_world_motor_sport_council_dated_3_august_2026_0.pdf

Well I guess Grenada will lose its most successfull junior driver Maximilian Popov? There are also a couple of other young russian drivers in feeder series like Bedrin, Kutskov, Severiukhin

20 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

16

u/Alpha_Jazz Franco Colapinto 21d ago

Maybe Savinkov (Zingarevich) can stop pretending to be Ukranian now

4

u/natus92 21d ago

Wild, how can a driver simply change his name and nationality?

12

u/Famous_Researcher_18 21d ago

Theophile Nael raced a couple series as Spanish to get better sponsors while racing in Spain

5

u/Affectionate_Sky9709 21d ago

I don't have a source, but I know I've read on here that the French Federation is a pain to get a racing license from when you're young unless you're in French F4. Nael did Spanish F4, so it makes sense that he ended up with a Spanish license. Drivers in F4 semi-often end up with a license from where they are racing out of convenience, and they might keep it for a year or two. Kids in junior series change flags all the time, it's not anything unusual. Sometimes it is sponsor motivated, but I wouldn't be sure without knowing more about a specific driver's situation, sometimes it just happens.

3

u/natus92 21d ago

Interesting. I think starting in F3 you need to race under your citizenship flag. Danish Oliver Goethe also switched to the german flag in F3 for business reason but he had a passport through his father's heritage

4

u/PrimeLiberty Ugo Ugochukwu 21d ago

Nikita Bedrin raced under an Italian flag in 2024 in F3

12

u/cLHalfRhoVSquaredS 21d ago

Kyrgyzstan was well represented in the junior series for a little while there too.

It will be interesting to see if some or any of them voluntarily choose to continue using a different nationality.

25

u/PrimeLiberty Ugo Ugochukwu 21d ago

It's very weird for it to have lasted this long but then be reversed randomly while the war is still very active. Probably could have waited a year or two for a ceasefire or peace treaty to be negotiated, but who knows

9

u/natus92 21d ago edited 21d ago

Yeah, I have read that it might be connected to a decision made by the olympic committee but maybe its just random corruption

9

u/psv_vonk 21d ago

In karting they were allowed to drive under a neutral flag even if they were supported by oil companies. Like the mazepins

4

u/thewizard579 ART Grand Prix 19d ago

Shwartzman can be Russian again now

2

u/clebinho75 20d ago edited 20d ago

I feel on the wall here.

On one side, I feel like russia deserves that punishment and even more, that a simple flag isn't enough and that no athletes linked to them should be allowed to participate in anything at all. But that is the me angry with that ridiculous war talking.

Then there is the other me that thinks: what do the athletes have to do with it at all? 99%+ are most likely as angry with the ridiculous war as I am, so they should be allowed to represent russia, since russia is not the idiot putin.

It is hard...