Cheeky Nikita Mazepin Reveals His ‘Best Friend’ on the F1 Grid

It is not often that we see Nikita Mazepin mingling with his fellow racing colleagues on the grid albeit his own teammate, Mick Schumacher, which too, is quite a rare sighting. However, despite being rather quiet off the grid, Mazepin does have a best friend in Formula 1.

It is indeed the 7-time world champion’s son, Mick. Of course, the duo had been through a couple of heated moments on the track while battling each other this season; The Dutch Grand Prix being one of them.

Mazepin and Schumacher were fighting for track position prior to starting their final qualifying lap in Q1. And their own fight ended up sabotaging Sebastian Vettel’s lap, which then led to the duo along with the 4-time world champion meeting with the stewards.

On the very next day, Mazepin fended off Schumacher aggressively while the latter was trying to make a move on the main straight. Nevertheless, despite such debacles, the Russian reckoned that Mick is the closest to him in the garage.

What did Nikita Mazepin say?

During the post-qualifying interview with Ziggo in Istanbul, the interviewer questioned Mazepin about who he considers as a best friend. And without much hesitation, the Haas driver replied, “Mick Schumacher“.

The interviewer screamed hilariously, “You’re a liar“. However, Mazepin denied that he was lying and revealed why he feels Schumacher is his closest friend. “Why would I lie? He’s the one who’s closest to me in the garage,” he said. The interviewer had his own doubts, and asked, “But, does it mean he’s your best friend?”

“Yeah, he’s coming to Moscow for holidays to see the snow. He wants to see the bears and the snow,” Mazepin concluded.

Overall, the Turkish Grand Prix is nearby, with both the drivers starting from fairly decent positions. Mazepin promoted himself up to P19 following Carlos Sainz’s penalty. Meanwhile, Schumacher will be starting from a career-best P14.

And the only way Haas are going to score points on Sunday is if rains show up. Schumacher has looked comfortable keeping his tires in the perfect temperature window all weekend. So, will his efforts pay off at Istanbul Park? Well, only time will tell.

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