Nik,
What do you want? I think the scripted apology and “I just got a spanking from my dad and now I need to apologize to my sister” eyes/crying fit the stupid kid argument perfectly.
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I have to wonder, are we even having this conversation if the kid is not Russian?
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My issue was that it wasn’t a point, it was an open hand, fingers together, palm down. That was a conscious decision, coupled with him laughing immediately after the fact does not sit well with me.
I didn’t really want to say anything about this issue, but Russia has a history of athletes supporting the current government (Alexander Ovechkin: NHL superstar and notable Putin supporter, Ivan Kuliak: Russian Olympic gymnast that put the Z on his uniform, many other Olympic athletes that attended a rally supporting Putin and the Ukrainian invasion). There are some that are vocally against Putin such as Artemi Panarin, an NHL player that got into some trouble with the Russian government for speaking out against Putin’s actions.
I’m hesitant to make any hard statements on this kids stance on Russia’s geopolitical actions, but a kid racing in FIA Karting competitions would not surprise me if his family benefits from Putin’s control over the country, given how expensive these competitions are to compete in.
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I think when he said “I stand with Russia” that might have kinda sealed it. Salute or not, I think most see this as siding on the wrong side of history.
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I think we would, any driver mimicking a nazi salute or something close to it is newsworthy. The fact the driver is Russian is just an additional detail to the issue
I have not seen the response. If what you are saying is true and that it seems the intent was indeed there to further Putins bullshit, that changes things.
So, we get to decide what his intentions were?
Again, I waved at a guy coming into the pits at Newcastle last weekend with my arm angled up and my fingers together pointing straight. If someone had seen that as an outsider, do they get to then tell me what I meant?
Context matters, However.
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Can you separate the context and the conjecture and say 100% it’s a Nazi salute?
He’s a child. He’s not an adult professional athlete. So that’s the context that matters.
I am not sure why the FIA have avoided so much flak for this. They have a child safeguarding responsibility here. They are the ones broadcasting these children live to the internet and we know full well kids do dumb stuff every now and again. We have a responsibility to ourselves as rational adults not to throw children under the bus.
I do think the FIA have a lot to answer for in karting, and I’ve long been uncomfortable with the way karting is being pushed harder towards the young end of the market. I think Mercedes were irresponsible when they signed up 12 year old Luna Fluxa and had her at the Merc F1 car launch. For sure these children are privileged, but we shouldn’t be putting them out there like this at that age because things like this happen.
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Well, if you then went on to state that you stand behind the Proud Boys or whatever in your apology, I would re-asses my original assumption.
Like I said, I have not seen the follow up to this (apology etc). I don’t have an opinion at this point.
On a related note, Nikita lost some expensive property yesterday.
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I would argue to some level that intentions aren’t what’s important, perception is. And as an individual, we all need to be aware of how our actions are going to be perceived regardless of intentions.
There are a lot of circumstances that also need to be taken into account outside of that exact scenario too, given that he is Russian and the political climate of Russia right now. If I were in his shoes I would be trying to keep as low of a profile as possible. Sure, I’ve never been on the podium of an international competition, but if I were there that isn’t exactly the motion I would be going for in that situation.
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he’s a kid though. This isn’t his problem. He is allowed at that age to make mistakes, grow up and learn. It’s the problem of the FIA’s making and their inadequate safeguarding policies. But the FIA wanted to make Senior karting a child’s game, and they haven’t made the required adaptations.
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Any idea why he laughs like that after the wave, that is the only part bothers me.
I don’t think that him being in Senior is the issue here. That is an issue, sure, but it’s a separate issue. I would expect the response would be the same if he was still racing OKJ instead of OK. Plus, they livestream OKJ races just the same as the OK races, so it would still be caught on camera.
My guess would be because he’s a stupid kid looking at other stupid kids doing stupid kid things.
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They said he was waving to his mechanics and joking with them.
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How dare they have fun?
He isn’t a ‘Senior’. that’s my point. OK is really OK Junior+ (bar a couple of drivers). My point is that we have FIA European/World Championship bells and whistles racing with all the live coverage… but it’s actually children - junior AND ‘senior’. It’s dressed in the facade of professional competition, and the exposure that brings, but it’s actually amateur kid competition. I really don’t like how the media and the governing body push young children into the spotlight, and when one makes an error… BAM it’s a global news story. This is not a healthy environment for children to be in.
For me the whole FIA competition needs a restructuring and re-appraisal.
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I think I’ll stick to rental racing, folks. This just isn’t what I want from my karting life.
Off to my zen garden.
Before I go, the insta apology was basically a mumble. I couldnt understand what he was saying. I’m going with dumb kid being dumb and then reading a script written by adults. Let’s just move on from this and get back to throwing bodywork at each other.