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The Haas Formula 1 team is under pressure to make a payment to former sponsor Uralkali or its equipment will be stuck in the Netherlands and its participation in next week's Italian Grand Prix will be in doubt.
Uralkali - the Russian fertiliser company owned by the Uralchem group, which has former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin's father Dmitry as a major shareholder - served as the title sponsor of the American outfit in 2021.
The agreement - along with Mazepin Jr's contract to drive for Haas - was terminated at the start of 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But sponsorship payments from Uralkali to Haas became a subject for litigation in the aftermath, with Uralkali seeking repayments from Haas and ultimately succeeding in its quest to be granted these by ruling of a Swiss arbitral tribunal in June - albeit with the ruling itself kept private and the two sides disagreeing in their public statements on whether Haas had been in breach of its obligations.
A statement in July followed from Uralkali, claiming that Haas had not delivered the repayment - nor "a team race car from the 2021 season, as provided by the sponsorship contract".
Now, Uralkali moved forward in the courts with a bid to have the Haas outfit's assets seized, triggering the team being visited by bailiffs and police officers in the Zandvoort paddock - in accordance with an August 14 court order.
Asset valuation was carried out by the bailiffs. It was conducted on Thursday evening to ensure minimal attention and Uralkali is not pursuing the Haas F1 cars being impounded mid-event at Zandvoort, so the team's participation in the Dutch GP is ironclad.
The latest Uralkali statement described this as "the expected consequence of Haas' refusal to obey the ruling" - and claimed Uralkali had long "reached out to Haas' representatives with options about how to make payment and where to send the race car, without ever receiving a substantive answer".
Haas says it has been working on ensuring it can make the payment legitimately around the international sanctions that exist in the aftermath of the aforementioned invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The younger Mazepin was taken off the European Union's Russia sanctioned persons list earlier this year, while Mazepin Sr remains in that status.
While Haas can participate in the Dutch GP unaffected, its assets including cars will not be able to leave for the Italian GP at Monza - which takes place next weekend - until payment has been made or proof of funds is guaranteed. Should Haas leave the country without that happening it will be subject to penalties and criminal charges.
The team has been working on arranging the payment on Friday, although was believed to be unresolved immediately after the conclusion of FP2. While the matter dragging on beyond Monday would complicate, or even completely jeopardise, Haas's Monza participation, Haas is confident it will not come to this.
"We are delighted to hear that, following last night’s visit from Dutch authorities, Haas is finally paying attention to the arbitral ruling," added the Uralkali statement.
"Uralkali wants nothing more than to receive what it was awarded during a fair judicial process and hopes that Haas will move quickly to rectify the situation so that all sides can move on.”
