The fallout from Haas’ termination of its Formula 1 title sponsorship agreement with Uralkali is set to turn ugly, with the Russian company signalling its intentions to launch legal action.

Co-owned by Dmitry Mazepin, the father of axed Haas driver Nikita, Uralkali says it wants a refund on its sponsorship dollars and plans to “initiate judicial proceedings, claim damages and seek repayment of the significant amounts” for the upcoming season.

That development came by way of a Uralkali statement, in which it slammed Haas’ decision as “unreasonable”.

Further, it stated a desire to use refunded monies to finance a ‘We Compete As One’ foundation, believed to be aimed at helping athletes who have been affected by worldwide sanctions against Russia.

Many elements of the motorsport world have come down hard on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Just recently, Formula 2 outfit Hitech Grand Prix announced it had also ended its long-term partnership with Uralkali.

Read the full Uralkali statement below:

Uralkali (the Company), one of the world’s largest potash producers, and also the title sponsor of Uralkali Haas F1 Team (the Team, Haas), hereby announces that it was advised by the Team of their unilateral termination of the sponsorship agreement with Uralkali due to the current geopolitical situation.

Uralkali has been for many years contributing considerably towards global food security and providing significant assistance to a whole range of sports associations, organizations and events both in Russia and abroad. The Company views the Team’s decision as unreasonable and believes that sports should always be free of politics and pressure from external factors.

Given the above, Uralkali intends to protect its interests in line with applicable legal procedures and reserves its rights to initiate judicial proceedings, claim damages and seek repayment of the significant amounts Uralkali had paid for the 2022 Formula One season.

As most of the sponsorship funding for the 2022 season has already been transferred to Haas and given that the Team terminated the sponsorship agreement before the first race of the 2022 season, Haas has thus failed to perform its obligations to Uralkali for this year’s season. Uralkali shall request the immediate reimbursement of the amounts received by Haas. The refund from Haas and the remaining part of Uralkali’s sponsor financing for 2022 will be used to establish the We Compete As One athlete support foundation.