Sochi: President Vladimir Putin will host Russia’s first-ever Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday in Sochi even as global investors are turning away from the country amid the weakening ruble and tensions over Ukraine.
Putin will attend the race with Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, the Kremlin said in a statement. Russians are expected to make up more than 90 percent of spectators at the track around the site of the Winter Olympics.
“This is a world-class event, and it’s a shame to skip it when it’s taking place just 300 kilometres away from you,” said Yaroslav Artyukh, who’s travelling from Krasnodar, southern Russia, after paying the equivalent of $420 for tickets and booking a hotel near the Sochi Autodrom three months in advance. “Being patriotic, I will support Russian racer Daniil Kvyat.”
Kvyat will compete for Toro Rosso while Anglo-Russian team Marussia said it will field only one car out of respect for driver Jules Bianchi, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in last weekend’s race. The 25-year-old Frenchman is in critical but stable condition in a Japanese hospital.
“After what happened in Japan, you try and do the best you can,” Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo said on the Formula One website after yesterday’s practice. “I would be lying if I said other things weren’t on my mind, but you do what you can to make sure you’re 100 per cent committed to driving.”
About 90 percent of 46,000 tickets for the event have been sold, said Toto Darch, managing director of Russian ticket agency SportTours. Round-trip airfares from Moscow have risen sixfold from normal and nearby hotels are sold out, he said.
The Russian ruble suffered the worst slide since June as US and European sanctions make it harder for companies to refinance and prompt individuals to switch savings into dollars and euros. Fighting in eastern Ukraine is undermining a month- old truce.
“I’ve been hearing about this event since spring and was wondering whether promoters might cancel it because of geopolitical tensions,” said Alexander Boreyko, head of Finsbury’s Moscow office. “It’s good they didn’t. It should be totally different to watch it live than on television.”
