Vettel drops Turkish Cypriot flag from crash helmet

Four-time Formula 1 world champion and current Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has been asked to remove the Turkish Cypriot flag from his helmet, the Cyprus Automobile Association announced on Saturday after a successful complaint to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

The organisation filed a complaint against Vettel on Friday after he was seen sporting a helmet displaying the flag of the breakaway state in the north during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

A written announcement by the Cyprus Automobile Association said that FIA head Mohamed Ben Sulayem was in touch with head Antonis Michaelides, assuring him that he saw to it personally that the flag would be removed.

This was also confirmed to the Cyprus News Agency by a spokesperson from the Aston Martin F1 team.

The German driver replaced his regular helmet colours with a special ‘No War’ design for testing, as drivers came together to express their solidarity with Ukraine. However, alongside the Ukrainian flag, his helmet also displayed the controversial flag.

“Vettel’s decision of sporting the pseudo-state’s flag on his helmet is unacceptable,” a statement released by the Cyprus Automobile Association had said on Friday.

Vettel was the most outspoken at the Barcelona test a fortnight ago over Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, as he made clear he would boycott the country’s race if it went ahead.

In the end, Formula 1 and the FIA acted swiftly to drop the Russian Grand Prix from the calendar and cancel its contract under ‘force majeure’ measures.

Prior to the start of the Bahrain test, all the drivers present wore special ‘No war’ T-shirts, using the sunflower symbol in Ukraine’s national colours.