The Russian was embroiled in a couple of slow cars ready to begin their qualifying laps in Barcelona in the first quarter when Norris’ fast approaching McLaren appeared behind them to complete a fast lap.
While the drivers were supposed to stay okay before the time laps started, Mazepin had jumped from both Kimi Raikkonen and Yuki Tsunoda – who were just finishing laps and also wanted to avoid Norris.
Mazepin found it dangerous to follow etiquette and keep his place behind them to let Norris through, so decided to go ahead and start his lap.
This meant that Norris was losing valuable time behind the Haas driver for the final corner run, forcing him to run again to be sure of making headway into the second quarter – a nudge that did his prospects for the third Quarter.
An investigation by the stewards found that Mazepin could have waited longer and sneaked in behind Norris, resulting in a penalty of three starting places and one point on his license.
As Mazepin considered the incident, he reckoned that the agreement between the drivers to maintain order before the laps started was flawed.
In a video call to the media about what happened, Mazepin said, “Well, if I’m not mistaken, someone from that call asked about the driver’s approval for the final corner in Bahrain. I think it was a very good example of how you can’t function in Formula 1.
Nikita Mazepin, Haas VF-21, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alfa Romeo Racing C41
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I’ve really tried to stick to it since I took note of it, but it’s very difficult when two cars overtake you and go into the last corner which is very slow and tight.
“With a car that’s two and a half meters long, you just can’t park a third car there, especially when the fourth car arrives at full speed. So I didn’t feel like boxing was an option because that would have left my back end on the race line.
“The only option was to leave, which I did. And yes, unfortunately, all of these things come together.
“I’m not upset about it because there really wasn’t much I could have done other than disappear. Which I unfortunately can’t yet. “
Mazepin’s starting line-up will make no difference to his starting position as he qualified 20th.
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