[Translated with Google]

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile has launched an investigation into Artem Severiukhin, guilty of performing what has been described as a “Nazi salute” on the podium of the OK category in the Round 1 of the FIA ​​Karting European Championship in Portugal. Meanwhile, Ward Racing has announced that it has terminated the relationship with the Russian driver.

On Sunday 10 April 2022, Severiukhin celebrated his second career victory in the "Senior" class, two weeks after the previous one, making himself the author of a perfect final thanks also to the departure from pole position.

Unfortunately, on the podium reserved for the first three of the final, Severiukhin became the protagonist of a truly unworthy episode. The Russian driver has decided to race with an Italian license, after the ban imposed by the FIA, for all motor racing competitions, for Russian athletes to display the flag of their country, then the Italian anthem is played. At that moment, the 15-year-old makes a gesture that virtually everyone present has escaped, but which is captured by the video images broadcast live (and immediately archived on YouTube): he bangs his fist twice on his chest and then stretches his arm forward. for a moment, only to burst out laughing.

Everything lasts a few moments, which is why practically no one realizes what happened on the track. The video, however, shows how Severiukhin's behavior follows a Nazi-Fascist salute: an unacceptable gesture and absolutely to be condemned.

On Monday 11 April 2022, Ward Racing distanced himself from the incident through an official statement announcing the premature termination of the relationship with Severiukhin: «The actions of Artem Severyukhin during the award ceremony on April 10, 2022 were exclusively individual and do not represent the views and values of Ward Racing in any manner. […] On the basis of these considerations, Ward Racing sees no possibility for continued cooperation with Artem Severyukhin and will proceed with terminating his racing contract».

Even the FIA, after removing Sunday's races from YouTube, released a statement: «The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile confirms that it has launched an immediate investigation into the unacceptable conduct of Mr Artem Severiukhin that occurred during the podium ceremony for the OK category at Round 1 of the 2022 FIA Karting European Championship at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. The FIA will communicate shortly on the further steps that will be taken in this case».