Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have called for Formula 1 to scrap its Russian Grand Prix in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tension has been building in the region for several months and on Thursday Russia launched an attack on Ukraine.
Formula 1 responded by confirming that it is monitoring the situation.
The Russian Grand Prix is scheduled for September 25 at Sochi.
![Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri [McLaren] celebrate their 1-2 finish at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Lando-Norris-Oscar-Piastri-McLaren-F1-2025-1-120x86.webp)
Speaking during the press conference on Thursday lunchtime, Vettel and Verstappen both called for the race’s cancellation, with Vettel particularly vocal on the situation.
“In my personal opinion, obviously I woke up again to this morning’s news and I was shocked,” said Vettel.
“I don’t know. I think it’s horrible to see what is happening and obviously if you look at the calendar we have a race scheduled in Russia.
“For myself, my opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it’s wrong to race in the country.
“I’m sorry for the innocent people that are losing their lives, that are getting killed for stupid reasons and a very, very strange and mad leadership.
“I’m sure that is something we [drivers] will talk about.
“Personally I’m just really shocked and sad to see what’s going on. We will see going forward, but I think my decision is already made.”
World Champion Verstappen added that “when a country is at war it is not right to race there.”
![Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri [McLaren] celebrate their 1-2 finish at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Lando-Norris-Oscar-Piastri-McLaren-F1-2025-1-350x250.webp)
![Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri [McLaren] celebrate their 1-2 finish at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Lando-Norris-Oscar-Piastri-McLaren-F1-2025-1-360x180.webp)
lol @ these clowns actually thinking Putin is the “bad guy” here. Imagine being worth so much money and having as many as connections as these two do, but still living in a tiny bubble with view of the world based on fake information from mainstream media and corrupt governments run by corporations and banks (that sponsor them).
I’m all for it. They can skip alll of these terrible and boring tracks. Russia, Singapore, Baku, France, Saudi Arabia.
Fuck off, Olga, you fucking dipshit troll. The short-arsed, ferret-faced shrimp Putin is killing people because he can’t get over his little limp dick not impressing the ten rouble rent-boys who laugh at him every night. The neanderthal gonk acts all macho and butch, riding round on horseback with no shirt, but then he keeps people sitting at the far end of the world’s longest table in case he catches a cold, the pathetic little twat. If you’re sticking up for that piss-poor failure of a human, you must be as much an utterly shit, waste of air as he is. Crawl back under your fucking rock and die.
Go watch some more (((BBC))) fake news and destroy some more brain cells.
At least I have some to spare.
I guess when you win the World Championship you become a deep state bitch pushing what ever the narrative is this week.
Seem to remember that Russian GP last year was quite exciting thanks to a rain shower at the end.
These drivers should stick to driving not convince us to hate Russia be woke or that the most over paid driver might some how be disadvantaged for his accident of birth when clearly its not done him much harm and probobly got him noticed in the first place .
Putin is a criminal.
A cold, calculating one at that!
I presume you also have a problem with F1 visiting the US, F1 having a US team etc? The US have murdered 30 million+ globally since WWII.
And Hamilton supports a racial terrorist organisation called Black Lives Matters that has murdered a whole lot of people and destroyed the lives of many others over the past handful of years. Maybe he should be banned from F1?
Haha F1 is a European Sport and Ukraine has been bullied by Russia since 2014 for wanting to join the European Union. You uneducated cowards shut your mouths. Clearly Vettel and Verstappen are far more intelligent than you Russian shills. It doesn’t take much research to find out this was about joining the European Union not NATO, and that Ukraine only looked towards NATO and the US after the annexation of Crimea for the “crime” of wanting to join the European Union and not be a slave state of Russia.
LOL “bullied”, and speaking of the EU as if it’s not a globalist Rothschild criminal group. Durp durp durp.