Mazepin’s first F1 campaign got off to a rocky start, marred by mistakes and lack of pace compared to Haas debutant Mick Schumacher.
On the first three race weekends of the F1 2021 in Bahrain, Imola and Portimao, Mazepin qualified with an average gap of six tenths behind the German.
Mazepin’s debut in Bahrain came to an end after turning from corner one, while the Russian crossed the finish line a minute behind his teammate in subsequent races.
But Mazepin has also drawn the ire of several coworkers for allegedly blocking her during qualification attempts. Sergio Perez and Nicholas Latifi called him an “idiot” in the heat of the moment.
When asked by Motorsport.com whether the criticism Mazepin receives from other F1 drivers concerns him, team boss Steiner replied that his driver “shouldn’t do this job” if it were.
“Obviously what is said in racing conditions when you go 300 km / h in those cars and someone [is] In your way, you don’t usually say, ‘oh, that guy wasn’t very nice,’ “Steiner explained.
“You call him something else, you know? I mean, who wouldn’t? I wouldn’t like what people say about me, but if that concerns you, you shouldn’t be doing this job.
“You have to do something different when you’re so thin-skinned.”
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Steiner claims Mazepin’s “bad boy” image continues to be fed by the Formula 1 broadcast team in the way it decides which team radio clips to air and calls it “a bit of attention-grabbing”.
“We all know Nikita is a bit of the bad boy, he’s been the bad boy for a while,” added Steiner.
“Surely Formula 1 always sends the comments about him because you like to hear it, you know.
“If you send something that says nice and sweet things about other people, nobody will care.
“So, I think it’s a bit of attention that gets on their part, but in the end we’re in the racing show business so it’s part of that and I don’t think it concerns him.”
The post Criticism from F1 rivals shouldn’t sway Mazepin first appeared on monter-une-startup.
