Mazepin “on track” and “happiest” since joining F1

Haas team boss Günther Steiner has announced that Nikita Mazepin is happiest since starting his F1 career after outperforming teammate Mick Schumacher in training for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Mazepin has had a difficult rookie season so far after coming under fire for obstructing other drivers and spinning multiple times in the first four races.

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Although the Russian driver said he was “not too confident” before his first F1 outing in the Principality, he enjoyed his best day of the season by keeping his nose clean and crossing the finish line ahead of Schumacher in both sessions on Thursday.

“I think he did a good job and I spoke to him afterwards and he was very happy,” said Steiner.

“He said he was the happiest since joining Formula 1 at the beginning of the season.

“He’s done a good job, done nothing he shouldn’t, and improved lap after lap. We still have a little more to do, but I think we are on the right track at the moment. ”

He added: “He just has confidence in the car, he told me that. But he feels happy in the car and he feels confident in it. I don’t know the other details, which is really different, but he just didn’t think he was going to have that much fun. ”

Given Mazepin’s struggles in the first four races of the year at permanent racing facilities, including finding the barriers across Bahrain’s sprawling grounds, his pre-event concerns were understandable.

When asked whether it was a surprise that the Russians’ confidence in the car had suddenly grown in Monaco, Steiner admitted: “Maybe a little, but it will come again at some point, but I think it’s also the time in Automobile.

“It’s his fifth race weekend so it’s just getting used to it and maybe getting more used to the whole thing.”