The SMP Racing project said on Monday that Sauber F1 team test driver Sergei Sirotkin and Indy Car driver Mikhail Aleshin are "among dozens of mostly Russian auto racers whose careers could be threatened by U.S. and European sanctions related to the Ukraine crisis," according to R-SPORT. The project, which provides financial backing for a number of Russian auto racers, was set up by billionaire Boris Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rotenberg was "included in U.S. sanctions last month as a member of Putin's so-called 'inner circle.'" SMP Racing said that its European accounts "have been frozen as a result of U.S. and EU sanctions imposed after Crimea's absorption into Russia last month, and that this could endanger promising racers' careers by depriving them of financial support." SMP Racing said on its website that it supports 47 racers including Sirotkin, 18, who tested for Sauber in Bahrain last week, and Aleshin, 26, "who finished sixth in Long Beach on his Indy Car debut Sunday" (R-SPORT, 4/14).
