Nikita Mazepin has revealed that he wants to know the great Michael Schumacher’s secrets, but conceded that he will ask his son about it after their careers.
Mazepin is teammates with Michael’s son Mick Schumacher. The two drivers are both rookies, and are in the middle of their first seasons in F1 with Haas.
The two drivers haven’t been on the same page a lot of times, and have exchanged heated words this season. Nevertheless, they seem to be building a little bit of a friendship, as evidenced by the Russian driver’s latest comments.
Mazepin stated that he wants to know Schumacher’s secrets of racing and racecraft, but conceded that he will not be asking about them to Mick as long as they are racing.
When asked by La Gazetta dello Sport if the two drivers talk about Mick’s father, Mazepin said, “No, because I’m sure Mick would know a lot of details that I’d like to know, even just how he concentrated, what he ate before a race, how he trained, and then how he braked, how he took corners. Everything.
“And many years from now, maybe twenty, over a glass of red wine, I’ll ask him everything. Now I’m sure he won’t want to share any of his dad’s secrets with me.”
Mazepin revealed that growing up, his idol was the seven-time world champion, and he wanted to be his hero on the TV.
“When I was 5, 6, 7 years old I only watched Michael Schumacher. I wanted to become like him,” the Haas driver said.
Role models
“As I got older, I started to admire Lewis (Hamilton), for what he does on the track, of course.
“But mostly because he was the first to show us that there’s more to it than that. That you can also do a lot more outside of racing, from his interests, like fashion, to charity work.
“My hero driver is Michael, my model human being is Lewis,” he concluded.
Those are the best role models one can have if you are racing F1. It would do Mazepin a world of good if he can try to be like any of the two drivers.