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Putin attends Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi

At the entrance to the Autodrom, President met with the Formula One leadership, including honorary president Bernie Ecclestone, Managing Director Ross Brawn and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak
Managing Director of Formula 1 Ross Brawn and Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Managing Director of Formula 1 Ross Brawn and Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

SOCHI, September 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the Sochi Autodrom in the Russian Black Sea resort hosting the Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.

At the entrance to the Autodrom, Putin met with the Formula One leadership, including honorary president Bernie Ecclestone, Managing Director Ross Brawn, and also Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. Together they went to the VIP section to watch the race.

The Russian president visited the Formula 1 races in Sochi before. A year ago, Putin met with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak to discuss matters of organizing summer vacations for Russians in the country’s south. He also met with Formula 1 leadership and Pirelli management at the Sochi Autodrom.

So far, no international meetings on the sidelines of the F1 Russian Grand Prix have been included into the president’s agenda. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday: "We will inform you if such meetings take place, if [Putin] meets such guests."

The contract to include Russia in the calendar of F1 racing for the 2014-2020 period was signed in 2010 in Sochi by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Formula One’s former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone. In early 2017, the contract to hold F1 racing in Russia’s Sochi was extended until 2025.

The inaugural Formula One race in Sochi in 2014 and the next one in 2015 were held in October, but the following two Grand Prix races (in 2016 and 2017) were rescheduled to late April and early May timeframe. This year the race in Russia was rescheduled again.