Ricciardo not happy with upcoming Haas driver after double penalty in F2
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Nikita Mazepin, future Haas driver, will be driving his last races in Formula 2 this weekend. The Russian drives for Hitech GP this season and is currently fifth in the championship. The title is no longer possible, but a fourth place is still within reach. On the short circuit in Bahrain he seemed to drive to the podium, but he was given two penalties for aggressive defending.
On a number of occasions he went over the line and was punished for this. Felipe Drugovich, the driver was also involved in both incidents. The Brazilian had more speed than Mazepin, but the prospective driver of Haas did not want to give up his place. In doing so, he pushed Drugovich off the track twice, in a way that really should not be allowed.
Almost a suspension for Mazepin
He was given a five-second penalty for that and two penalty points on his licence. Mazepin was also involved in another incident. When Yuki Tsunoda wanted to overtake him, he pushed the Japanese all the way to the pit exit. Again, he was given a five-second penalty and two penalty points on his licence.
As a result, he fell off the podium and ended up ninth. His total penalty points on his licence are now eleven, which means that he escaped one point after a suspension of one race weekend. Haas will hope that the Russian knows how to behave in F1 and doesn't get as many penalties as he currently does in F2.
ICYMI: Nikita Mazepin was penalised twice during the Feature Race
— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) December 5, 2020
Including his defensive move on Felipe Drugovich down the pit straight #SakhirGP #F2
Baffle in F1 paddock after the race
In the F1 paddock a lot of attention is paid to the F2 races, to discover future talent. However, this time there were more worries, as Mazepin will be driving in F1 next year. "I really hope he's going to get a penalty for this, because this went across the border," Daniel Ricciardo says to Motorsport-Total. "His line was changed more than once and that's not allowed," said the Australian.
Guenther Steiner sees no major problems with his future rookie. "The most important thing was that he got his super license. There was a small chance he wouldn't make it, so this is a success in the first place. He fought pretty hard and threw it all in. Things like this can happen then. You also have to learn from it and this is just part of the learning process. In the end he also got that punishment," said Haas' team boss.