Haas newcomer Nikita Mazepin has admitted that after a difficult opening two weekends of the season, he didn’t expect Formula 1 to be this intense.
Mazepin came to the pre-season tests with the media light locked on him after his infamous groping incident late last year.
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Unfortunately for the Russian, his on-track etiquette caused trouble for his rivals as well, especially during qualifying.
From the team’s perspective, Mazepin’s arrival has proven costly so far due to the number of individual mistakes he has made so far.
About his experiences over the past few weeks, the 21-year-old said: “So far, F1 has been surprisingly intense for me.
“I knew it was going to be intense, but the two qualifying sessions I had were pretty hectic. The time is shorter and a lot of things happened.”
After his first lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Mazepin was delighted to at least cross the checkered flag the second time in Imola on Sunday, albeit well behind his team-mate Mick Schumacher.
“So much has happened,” added Mazepin, who escaped without damage from another first-lap incident that resulted in Nicholas Latifi being out in his Williams.
“From the start in the wet and not really expected because the sun wasn’t shining long before the start, then the red flag, so a lot of things happen.
“It’s a good learning experience in your pocket and it was good to see the checkered flag.”
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