G-Drive Racing’s Roman Rusinov has spoken out in response to the FIA announcement that drivers from Russia and Belarus must compete in ‘neutral capacity’. The Russian driver states that he has refused to accept the “discriminatory conditions” set up by the governing body following Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The FIA had announced that all Russian drivers would be subject to ‘specific commitment and adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality.’ This would include a ban on the Russian flag, symbols and colours as well as the national anthem during events until further notice.
In response to the measures, Rusinov put out a statement on his personal Instagram which seems to suggest that the outfit will not compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship or European Le Mans Series this year.
“Today, I, the driver of the Russian G-Drive Racing team, refused to accept the discriminatory conditions of the FIA,” he wrote. The goal of every athlete is to hear their country’s anthem on the podium. In 10 years of international experience, our team has done this many times.
“We have raised the Russian flag, we have heard and sung the Russian national anthem. For the sake of my fans, for the sake of my teammates and my sporting honour I will not put my signature on this document. Better not to drive at all.”
The [G-Drive Racing] team has always been international: pilots, mechanics and engineers come from all over the world. And if we were to ask everyone to give up their flag, experience and names, there would never be such a real sporting brotherhood and victories. It’s a shame that these guys will not compete for [G-Drive Racing] either.
“We are now already looking at different projects to develop motorsport in our country. I sincerely hope that we will be able to return to international racing once sporting spirit and a level playing field for all competitors returns to it.”
G-Drive, the team’s backer, is a chain of Russian petrol stations owned by Russian state-owned company Gazprom. The oil giant has faced sanctions from multiple countries amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The developments will most likely be an end to Daniil Kyvat’s debut season in the WEC. The former F1 driver had signed with G-Drive to be part of its line-up in LMP2.
Kyvat himself has not yet publicly responded to the FIA’s new measures but has completed testing with G-Drive at the Homestead Speedway in Miami just last week.
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