Nikita Mazepin has revealed that he is astounded by the ‘standard of behavior’ in Formula 1. This comes after his spat with Antonio Giovinazzi in Imola.
Considering how his Haas career began, some might say that Mazepin doesn’t have the right to comment on such things. He was publicly reprimanded by the team for posting a video on social media which they termed as “abhorrent”. This incident happened just after he joined the team.
The Moscow-born driver seems to have controversies following him with the latest incident happening during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Just as they began their final flying laps in Q1, Mazepin upset Giovinazzi after overtaking his Alfa Romeo.
Giovinazzi believes that Mazepin broke a gentleman’s agreement as his move did not allow him to progress to Q2. He also mentioned that Mazepin ‘didn’t respect’ him which was clear from his actions.
A similar incident took place at the season-opener in Bahrain. Just as the clock was ticking down, Mazepin jumped the queue and ended up spinning at Turn 1. This led to yellow flags which annoyed his rivals.
Mazepin, in response to Giovinazzi, told Russian outlet Match, “Over the past two weekends, this standard of behaviour has surprised me.
“Each of us has a team, the instructions of which we follow. In both cases I followed the instructions, but there are some unspoken rules.
“Yes, I am still learning. But in the end, I crossed the finish line two seconds before the end of the qualifying segment. If I had stayed behind him, I would not have had time for another lap. It’s unpleasant for me that it happened, but here it’s every man for himself.”
The Imola race saw conditions that were very tricky owing to the rain. However, Mazepin managed to stick till the end.
The 22-year-old said that he is on good terms with Haas team principal Guenther Steiner and also his teammate, Mick Schumacher.
“We have an excellent relationship,” he said of Steiner. “This is a great experience for me, I have never worked so much with a team leader. I’m learning a lot in terms of teamwork.
“I have a good working relationship with Mick. We are in the same situation, we are just starting a career here and we are the same age.
“We had quite a long discussion after practice in Imola in terms of car control. But I clearly understand everyone has their own opinion. We always have something to discuss.”
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