Nikita Mazepin Slams Haas for Making Him a ‘Sitting Duck’ to Mick Schumacher With ‘Heavy’ F1 Car

Nikita Mazepin had a horrible weekend at the Red Bull Ring this past weekend, finishing in eighteenth place with three laps down. However, the rookie driver feels that he had an amazing opening lap, and he delivered a poor result solely because of certain situations that didn’t play in his favor.

Regardless, the Haas driver wants to excel in his debut season in F1 and feels he just needs a proper chance to prove himself. However, at the moment, Mazepin doesn’t feel like he is in the right situation and suggests Haas have given him an inferior car compared to Mick Schumacher.

Nikita Mazepin feels like a “carrot to be caught” after the Styrian Grand Prix

After the race, Mazepin said, “When you have a lot of laps, long straights and you have a very heavy car, compared to the other car (Mick Schumacher) in the team, it’s very difficult to stay ahead.”

He added, “I’m not happy, but I’m just waiting for a new one to have a chance because at the moment I’m just a sitting duck. I do my very best at the beginning. And then I’m just a carrot to be caught and unfortunately, I was caught so that is what it is.”

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Can Nikita improve for the next race in Austria?

The Russian has had a difficult time adjusting to the winds of Formula One, as he not been able to crack the top-10 in any of the races. His best result so far was the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he placed fourteenth.

Then, at the French Grand Prix, he finished dead last with a lap down. And, now at the Red Bull Ring, crossing the line eighteenth place with three laps down has certainly affected the rookie’s confidence.

Mazepin must remain optimistic if he wants to achieve a better result at the same venue in a week’s time.

Can the Russian extract the most performance from the lackluster Ferrari-powered car and bring home a better result for the American-owned team? We will just have for a few more days to find out as we prepare ourselves for the Austrian Grand Prix.

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