After a horrendous start to his rookie F1 season, Nikita Mazepin is slowly crawling his way back up to form. The British Grand Prix witnessed the Russian pull off a stunning move on his teammate, Mick Schumacher, around the Vale chicane.
So, having shown sheer dominance over every single Grand Prix weekend, what happened to the Schumacher Jr at Silverstone last weekend?
Well, apparently, the German was struggling quite significantly with tire management throughout the race. Mick was constantly keen on avoiding over-heating issues, hence reducing his pace. And this tempted Mazepin to push much harder, which ultimately paid off.
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What did Mick Schumacher say?
As reported by Speed Week, the Haas F1 driver revealed that he is looking to analyze his teammate’s tire data, who managed to keep his tires under check throughout the race despite pushing them to the absolute limit.
Hence, Mick is seeking a strong comeback at Hungaroring next weekend, with the sole target of beating Mazepin one-on-one.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” Mick said. “Unfortunately, we struggled a little with the tires. We tried not to overheat the tires on the first few laps. And it seemed that Nikita was pushing a little harder, so he passed me.
“He still managed to keep his rubbers in the work window. We have to analyze that. We will have to learn our lessons from this in order to come back stronger in Budapest,” Mick added.
Tried to learn from Vettel: Schumacher
Sebastian Vettel, like his German colleague, Mick, had a disappointing race after suffering an early spin in the race. The Aston Martin driver consequently found himself surrounded by Haas and Williams drivers, out of which he never found a way.
But, Vettel’s downfall proved to be a boon for Mick, who followed his mentor to learn more about tire management. “I saw that his race didn’t go as planned either, which is of course very regrettable. That’s why I didn’t stand up to him because I knew he was faster,” he said.
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“So I tried to take the chance to learn from him instead of blocking him.”
Overall, it ended up being a struggle-induced weekend for the two German drivers at British GP. And of course, the duo was bound to have a bad day at some point this season.
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But, the biggest question is, can they bounce back into action in Hungary?
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