Mick Schumacher shines next to Mazepin
Mick Schumacher is showing good pace and seems to be gradually adapting to Formula 1 at the start of the season. He's performing well, which is all the more noticeable when compared to his Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin, who is struggling in his rookie season.
The only American team on the grid, Haas, is even less competitive this year than last year. As we already knew from preseason, the team explained that it is focusing its efforts on the 2022 reforms, leaving the 2021 season aside. In fact, this season will mainly be an opportunity for its two new drivers to train, as they are rookies this season, namely Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. While Mick Schumacher’s arrival in Formula 1 seemed logical, not only because of his name but also because of his excellent results in his junior career and notably the Formula 2 championship title last season. The arrival of the young Russian driver, Nikita Mazepin, due to the significant contribution of his father and his company Uralkali to the Haas team, has sparked numerous debates.
However, regardless of everyone’s opinion, Nikita Mazepin is now a Formula 1 driver and must prove what he is capable of just like Mick Schumacher. After the first three Grand Prix races of the season, the result is clear. Mick Schumacher has outperformed his teammate in all the races at the beginning of the season. This weekend in Portugal, Mick Schumacher is ahead of Nikita Mazepin by 0.5 seconds. During the race, the young German driver proved that he is slowly starting to tame his car, even overtaking Nicholas Latifi’s Williams to secure 17th place. Mazepin, on the other hand, will finish 19th thanks to Kimi Räikkönen’s retirement right at the start of the Grand Prix, more than a minute behind his teammate.
It is positive for Mick Schumacher who is gradually starting to get used to Formula 1 while increasing in power. However, it is becoming urgent for Nikita Mazepin to pull himself together as he continues to string together underperformance, he who had responded to criticism by saying: “I will respond on the track”. Besides the off-track excursions, dangerous movements, and repeated spins earning him the unflattering nickname “Mazespin”, the Russian driver is far, very far from his teammate, and this is the case at every Grand Prix.
Beaten in all qualifying sessions and races during these first three stages of the season, Nikita Mazepin will have to show a completely different face if he really wants to prove that he belongs in the premier category, not for his seat which seems secured by his father’s investment, but for his notoriety.
On the other hand, we can only highlight the solid start to the season that Mick Schumacher is having. Obviously, he doesn’t have the best car on the grid and can’t perform miracles, but he shows a certain consistency and good progress, as we could notice in Portugal, where he finished during the race for the first time ahead of another car than his teammate on the track.
