Formula 1 | Mazepin negotiated well the first round, Schumacher did not see the second

Nikita Mazepin got off to a good start in the chaos of Mexico’s first round. The Russian even held 12th place in the race, before logically plummeting. Sa Haas is the only classified single-seater to finish 3 laps behind winner Max Verstappen.

« It was a very long race » he reacted after the arrival.

“We got off to a good start, we did well and the first part of the race was going well. Then we decided to protect ourselves from Williams and unfortunately our pit stop was too slow – we just got passed by them but I think we had the pace to probably keep them behind given how difficult it was to overtake on this circuit. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I felt that since we had less downforce than we would have liked it was really difficult to follow the cars closely when you get passed by the blue flags – after that it was a tough race. « 

Mick Schumacher saw his race come to an abrupt halt as soon as he started the wheel, caught in the collision with Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon. He has nothing to be ashamed of, this kind of thing happens when you go into the fray …

“I saw a lot of smoke and normally that’s not a good sign. I didn’t want to be face to face with another car so I decided to go in the middle of the lane and unfortunately there were already cars there … we all bumped into it, and I had a contact with Esteban Ocon. It’s unfortunate but these things happen – it’s not the first time this has happened in my career and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I couldn’t wait to drive here and learn. Next year I hope we have a better car and we can attack more. We can always take positive points. « 

Günter Steiner, the team manager, finally returns to this weekend which will cost Haas precious money in repairs on Mick Schumacher’s car …

“A difficult weekend. With Mick obviously there was nothing to be done and it was a racing incident that happens when you try to do your best. On Nikita’s side, he hung on and made the most of the situation. We had a bit of a long pit stop – we wanted to get out in front of Latifi – and it didn’t work out so we ended up where we ended up, but he learned a lot about tire management. Now it’s time for the next race. «