Oct.25 (GMM) Vitaly Petrov has abruptly vacated his post as a F1 steward this weekend following the apparent assassination of his father in Russia.
The FIA announced on Saturday that Formula E safety car driver Bruno Correia has stepped up at Portimao to replace Petrov “due to a personal bereavement”.
Multiple Russian reports claim that former F1 driver Petrov’s 61-year-old father Alexandr was shot to death at his home in Vyborg on Saturday evening.
Petrov senior was a powerful businessman and politician in the region, with some reports suggesting the supposed de-facto “ruler” of Vyborg was gunned down by a sniper.
Earlier, six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had questioned 36-year-old Vitaly Petrov’s nomination as F1 steward this weekend in light of his widely circulated anti-Black Lives Matter comments.
When asked about Hamilton’s disapproval, Petrov’s Russian countryman Daniil Kvyat said in Portugal: “I haven’t read all the comments, but I don’t think anyone expects everyone to agree with them all of the time.
“It is only natural that people may have different opinions, and he (Petrov) just expressed his own. But I have not followed this story so I am not really ready to comment on it,” the Alpha Tauri driver added.
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