KANNAPOLIS, NC (WBTV) – Günther Steiner, the team principal of the Haas F1 Team from Kannapolis, said the team had an “interesting and good race” in Austria on Sunday.
The Uralkali Haas F1 team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin finished 16 and 18 at the Styrian Grand Prix, round eight of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2021 at the Red Bull Ring.
“It was a very interesting and good race for us,” said Steiner. “Our guys fought on the track, but everything was in line with their agreement and I’m very happy about it. It was respectful and that’s what I’m always looking for. Unfortunately Nikita got the Blue Flags and once you get in with short stretches the tires get dirty and you get nowhere. Mick stayed away from some and had very good pace for it. So we have to see where he got this pace from at the end of the race. Yes – we’re 16th and 18th, but I think learning is going on and it seems like we’re making progress and that makes me happy. “
Schumacher started from position 19 on Pirelli P Zero Yellow Medium tires and avoided the difficulties that some midfield cars experienced and moved up to position 16. Schumacher extended his first stint to medium before entering the pit lane on lap 34 of 71 to switch to white hard tires. Schumacher kept his VF-21 until the checkered flag to hold his 100 percent record in Formula 1 and finished 16th.
“There was a bit of action at the start and I tried to stay out of it – I picked the wrong line in T3 because it seemed like the outside line was faster,” said Schumacher. “The pace on C2 was very good and that’s positive – we reached midfield lap times, so I think we can be happy with that. Now we need to analyze what happened and how we can do better. Still, I think we can be satisfied with what we did today. “
Mazepin put himself on the grid behind his team mate, who also started on the medium surface, and took the lead in 15th place on the first lap. Mazepin gave up his position on the track by pulling in on lap 23 and switching to hard tires, which he kept until the end. Mazepin gave up the track position to the recovered Williams of Nicholas Latifi, but extended his target streak to seven when he finished 18th.
“I think I had a very good opening round,” said Mazepin. “I was happy with my positioning as I prepared this morning for where a lot of cars could potentially be and how to get past them. We really did our best, but the pace wasn’t enough today to fight other teams. I’m happy with myself – the balance wasn’t really there, but I didn’t make any major mistakes. I think that was the maximum for today. “
At the top, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took his fourth win of the 2021 season ahead of the Mercedes pairing Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
The Uralkali Haas F1 Team will be back in action at the Austrian Grand Prix, which will be held again at the Red Bull Ring from July 2-4.
Haas F1 Team contributed to this story.
Copyright 2021 WBTV. All rights reserved.
The post “Interesting and good race” for the Haas F1 team based in Kannapolis first appeared on monter-une-startup.
