Earlier this month, Haas prompted a WADA investigation after it revealed the livery of its 2021 car.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has concluded its investigation of the Haas F1 Team’s 2021 livery, a source at the international doping watchdog told Formula1News.co.uk on Monday.
The watchdog will not be taking any further action at this time, the source added.
WADA launched its investigation into Haas’ 2021 livery earlier this month, shortly after the American racing outfit released renderings of it which revealed that they are planning on running the colours of the Russian flag this upcoming season.
“WADA is aware of this matter and is looking into it with the relevant authorities,” WADA told this publication on 5 March.
The livery in question is based on the colours of the Russian flag, arranged in a way to resemble the flag itself on certain parts of the car, such as the front-wing.
This raised eyebrows immediately after the livery was unveiled, as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had announced a two-year ban for Russian athletes at world championship sporting events in late 2020.
The ban, which relates to state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics and was imposed following a WADA investigation, means that Russian athletes, including racing drivers, won’t be allowed to compete under their national flag or have it on display at official events until the end of 2022.
Russian racing driver Nikita Mazepin, whose father’s company was recently announced as Haas’ title sponsor, therefore won’t be allowed to race under the Russian flag in his debut season in Formula One.
Last week, the same WADA source told Formula1News.co.uk that they were still investigating the livery despite the FIA saying that it had clarified with Haas that the controversial livery is not in violation of the CAS ruling.
“The team has clarified the livery with the FIA – the CAS decision does not prohibit the use of the colours of the Russian flag,” the FIA said.
With WADA now no longer investigating the livery, the Haas F1 Team will be free to run it throughout the 2021 season.
