F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says 'no more racing in Russia'

This year's race in Sochi canceled after Russia invaded Ukraine

Stefano Domenicali, CEO of the Formula One Group, has said the sport will not return to Russia. Getty Images

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the sport has no plans to hold future races in Russia.

The Russian Grand Prix was scheduled to be held in Sochi this year before moving to Igora Drive in St Petersburg in 2023, but F1 canceled the race after Russia invaded Ukraine.

This is the first year since 2014 that a race has not been held at the Sochi Autodrom, with Mercedes having won every race to date.

Domenicali said the sport has no intention of returning to the country, saying there will be "no more racing in Russia".

"I've always believed that you should never say never," Domenicali told Sport Bild magazine, per GrandPrix.com. "But in this case, I can promise for sure — we will no longer negotiate with them."

Alexey Titov, the chief executive of Russian GP promoter ANO Rosgonki, said he expects F1 to refund payments made following the cancellation of this year's race.

"This debt exists, it is confirmed and our position on it is unchanged," Titov told Russian news agency Tass. "We expect a refund regardless of the current position of Formula One Management in relation to holding races in the Russian Federation.

"The current situation in world sports is extremely politicised. It is necessary to take Domenicali's words here with this in mind. What he said has a pronounced political connotation that has nothing to do with the real spirit of sports.

"The future of our relations today is really unclear. We will take Domenicali's position into account in our further work."

The next stop on the F1 calendar is the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.

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