Nikita Mazepin, who arrives in Formula One amid a cloud of controversy, says that people who think he’s a bad boy have an “entirely irrelevant” opinion.
Mazepin moved up from Formula 2 to Formula 1 that season and was signed by the Haas team, with his father’s Uralkali company investing in the team as the title sponsor.
But even before his first Grand Prix, the Russian had aroused the ire of F1 fans with a controversial video, the hashtag #SayNoToMazepin, which was making the rounds.
A barrage of spins on his debut race didn’t help his cause, while further mistakes and multiple incidents with fellow drivers resulted in the 22-year-old being branded F1’s newest bad boy.
Mazepin admits he made mistakes, but he is learning.
“It’s hard to say,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if his image was deserved. “Everyone has an opinion on everything.
“99 percent of the people who talk about me do so based on what they see on TV or on social media, they have never met me. Your opinion is completely irrelevant to me.
Big postponement from the team calls for a big thank you 
Nice work @nikita_mazepin # HaasF1 #StyrianGP pic.twitter.com/VvNddpraf6
– Haas F1 Team (@ HaasF1Team) June 28, 2021
“I was fortunate to grow up in a family where we are very close, with my father and other people with whom I have lived for the entire 22 years. For me, only your opinion matters.
“I’ve made mistakes and still do them, like all of us, and the luck I mentioned earlier is getting a slap on the wrist and being told not to do it again. This is how I learn and improve.
“I am sure that I can always say that I am better than yesterday.”
As for his mistakes on the track, the driver flicked the black and white flag in Russia for blocking Yuki Tsunoda and annoyed Lewis Hamilton a race later in Turkey when he stopped him despite waving blue flags, the Haas said Rookie: I’m human and I make mistakes, I spin, I crash, I lose a lap. I’m working on growing … “
Mazepin admits that Formula 1 life isn’t quite as easy as he thought.
The driver had his first experience in Formula 1 in a Mercedes F1 car, Mazepin went through an intensive test program in a two-year-old Mercedes.
As a result, he went from the best car on the grid to the worst.
“Definitely yes,” he replied when asked if F1 was more difficult than he expected.
“I had some very encouraging tests before the season. Then it started with the developmental problems we all know.
“Beginnings in Formula 1 inevitably make you lose confidence, and it takes a while to build it up again.
“It’s definitely more difficult, but life is tough.”
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