I think it just shows their true nature: Nikita Mazepin slams Mick Schumacher after Dutch GP qualifying

It is no secret that the Haas F1 team has not had the best of times in the 2021 Formula One season. The team is currently in last place in the constructor’s championship table and their two drivers, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have not been in the best of forms this season. Team boss Guenther Steiner does not only have to do a job of getting the team out of the bottom place, but it has now become a question of the team’s survival in F1. The last thing Haas needs is a heated feud between its drivers, but that is unfortunately the situation they find themselves in.

OVERTAKING INCIDENT

Haas driver Nikita Mazepin was left absolutely fuming after being overtaken by his teammate Mick Schumacher on their final out laps of the qualifying session on Saturday. The Russian driver indicated that what his teammate did was against rules laid out by the team. He certainly did not hold back on his thoughts when he was interviewed after qualifying. It led to a scary moment in which Sebastian Vettel almost collided with the duo as they ran side-by-side through the penultimate corner. Schumacher, after the session, did not understand his teammate’s frustration. He said that he was allowed, as per the team’s rules, to overtake. Mazepin, however, was having none of it.

“I am Russian and the way I believe we are is that we are very direct,” Mazepin said. “I know my place in the team, I have a team boss and I am more than happy to follow the rules because I think it is very important to be a team. One day the rules will play towards you, one day the rules will play against you. But it needs to be consistent so you know where you stand,” the Russian driver added.

‘I DON’T TOLERATE THAT’

He further went on to say that his teammate was ‘cheeky’ and that he just would not tolerate that sort of behaviour. “What I don’t like with people is when they are cheeky, fighting for P19. I think it just shows their true nature. I don’t tolerate that,” Mazepin continued. “I will just remain being myself, regardless of the outcome and I will listen to my team boss Guenther and do as I am told until the last day of my career which is very far away,” he added.

Both Haas cars will occupy the last row on the grid. Team principal Guenther Steiner would do well to keep his job for long considering the situation the team finds themselves in at the moment. An inside feud between the two drivers would be absolutely detrimental to the team’s cause and something the German would most certainly want to avoid.

“He had a good lap in mid-session and as the track was improving, there was an opportunity to improve the lap time and hopefully move a bit further down, maybe P17,” the Russian driver further said about Schumacher. “But the actions that have been taken by the other driver made me feel at the time that their ultimate goal was to get in front of me,” he added.