F1 News: Mick Schumacher Throws Shade At Nikita Mazepin – “Realigning Expectations”
American F1 team Haas went through a lot of changes right before the start of the season this year. The team had to part ways with Uralkali, their primary sponsor as a result of the Russia – Ukraine war. Haas also cancelled their contract with Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. Quite a few important events for the team to go through during practice but how has it been since?
Haas appointed Kevin Magnussen to pair up with Mick Schumacher who had previously raced for Haas from 2017 to 2020. The team had ended its contract with Magnussen and Romain Grosjean as both were replaced with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Commenting on Kevin’s return, Mick Schumacher expressed that he is more comfortable working with Kevin.
He said: “I feel more comfortable with the working relationship with the other driver this year, it’s going really well.”
“And we are realigning expectations. Last year we had to be happy if we found ourselves in 16th place.”
Since Kevin got back, he and Mick have escalated Haas’s position in F1. The American team scored more points in just two races than they had scored in the entire season of 2020. It seems like Mick Schumacher is more than happy with Kevin’s transparency.
“It’s very interesting to see how Kevin approaches a GP weekend. We can benefit from each other in the way he feels from the car and what I feel. We share all the information, it’s very open about how the car behaves in different corners,” said the 23 year-old Schumacher Jr.
It is evident that Nikita and Mick couldn’t elevate Haas’s standing in the previous season since it finished P10 in the constructor’s championship without getting even a single point from the drivers. Fortunately, things look better as Kevin has already earned the team 12 points in the first two races.
Did Mick take a jab at Mazepin by saying he’s more comfortable working with Kevin? What would be more interesting to see in the coming days is if Mick’s performance improves further and if Haas is able to overtake Alpine and grab P4 in the constructor’s standings.
