Ralf Schumacher thinks Mick's performance is the reason for Mazepin's aggression
F1 News
- GPblog.com
With the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi just around the corner Nikita Mazepin will be driving his home race of the season. Whether the Russian audience will turn out in such large numbers for Mazepin as the Dutch did for Max Verstappen in Zandvoort seems doubtful. Even before he took a seat in a Formula 1 car the Russian was already under discussion, and on the track he has made anything but an indelible impression.
Criticism on Mazepin
Since the start of the season Mazepin has been criticised for his many spins, something which continues to haunt Mick Schumacher 's teammate. Speaking of his teammate, Mazepin also had a run-in with Schumacher on more than one occasion, even at Monza, although he did apologise after the race.
Ralf Schumacher could appreciate Mazepin reaching out after that incident, but is far from impressed with his nephew's teammate. "It's certainly more conciliatory than before, but it doesn't change the fact that he wants to show with force: I'm better than Mick, the criticism of me and my person as a racing driver is wrong," says Ralf Schumacher at F1 Insider. It is likely that the news of Mazepin's contract extension will be announced during the race weekend in Russia.
Little progress
Ralf Schumacher also sees Mazepin making little progress so far: "You can see from many things that he hasn't grown yet, that he still has too many problems with the car. He just doesn't have the situation under control yet. Mick's approach is very detached and calm. The engineers have said from the start that he understands the context, that he is working on it, that he is developing faster than expected and that you can see a lot of potential. That's obviously bad for the other driver."