Mazepin revealed at the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend that his car drove harder than Schumacher.
Mazepin has only beaten Schumacher once in races that both drivers have finished and has overqualified him once in eight races so far this year – in Monaco, when Schumacher did not take part in qualifying.
Before the second race this weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Haas F1 team boss Gunther Steiner stated that there was a “small difference in weight depending on the weight distribution”.
But he cleared up Mazepin’s belief that he would have to wait another six or seven races to switch chassis and return to a lighter one, and revealed that a new chassis is planned after the summer break.
“Heavy is never good, but not 20 kilos heavier or not 10 kilos heavier – that is nothing like that,” said Steiner.
“We built a new chassis maybe a month ago, I would say. It’s not planned for six or seven races, the chassis should be with us after the summer break.
Nikita Mazepin, Haas VF-21
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
“That makes him slower. But it’s not much. “
But Mazepin said the perspective Steiner had of the pit wall “was probably very different from what you feel while driving the car for 71 laps,” the feeling that it had a huge impact on him was still mobile.
“Everyone has the right to think [what they want] and they might be right, but I’m pretty sure it will have a pretty big impact, ”said Mazepin.
“Because it compensates for the weight distribution, and that compensates for the setup that you put in the car. So there are some factors when you look at it from a mechanical point of view.
“However, by and large I would say that it is not unacceptable. It just makes my life a little more difficult.
“But I have a very good team of engineers who will help me understand it and work better with it in my rookie year.”
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