The Bloke and A Bird Show Episode 253

Did somebody say Unicorn Chaser?We can’t ignore what’s happening in Ukraine, especially given F1’s connection to Russia. We applaud the strong statement from Sebastian Vettel - that he would not race in Russia if the Russian Grand Prix was held, and also the statement from Max Verstappen that essentially stated that F1 had no business racing in Russia.Formula 1 has stated that “it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances” to which we and many other interpreted to mean that the 2022 Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled. However, the organizers of the event still think there’s a chance that the event could happen.Haas has removed the Uralkali colors and branding from the VF22, the team’s gear, their trucks, their website and pretty much anyplace else that it might have appeared. As of when we recorded Nikita Mazepin is still driving for the team, but Gunther Steiner has stated that the team will assess their relationship with Uralkali this week.With Nikita Mazepin’s position on the team tied so closely to the Uralkali sponsorship it seems likely that he’s not going to retain his seat. Gunther Steiner says that Pietro Fitipaldi is most likely to get the call to replace Nikita. The more we hear about the Andretti Autosport application to start an F1 team the stronger the application sounds. But could the loss of Uralkali trigger a partnership with Haas and Andretti?Toto Wolff and Christian Horner say they are burying the hatchet for 2022.Initial reports are that the new cars can follow closer than before - but we’re learning about porpoising and it’s a problem for many teams.