Nikita Mazepin Q&A: British Grand Prix Preview

We’re back racing after a week away, following your first triple-header in Formula 1. Can you share how that’s affected you mentally and physically - if at all - and if there were any surprises to what you were expecting as well as what your main takeaways have been? 

“Back to backs in Formula 1 are quite different to Formula 2. It was nice to get to experience that quite early on in my career here. When you’re racing in Formula 1 – you don’t arrive and drive from Thursday and leave on Sunday. You have debriefs - pre-event and post-event - during the weekend. That makes the week itself quite intense because you don’t disconnect from racing, however I’m fortunate to like what I do. I feel it’s making me stronger with every race that comes.”

 

We head to Silverstone, a track you won at last season in Formula 2 in the feature race. What do you like about this circuit and how does it feel racing around a track with such motorsport heritage?

“Silverstone is a very nice circuit because it has a combination of everything you would ever want on a race track – slow speed, high speed and also overtaking opportunities. At the same time, it’s sort of my home race for Haas and I’m looking forward to doing my best there.”

It has been confirmed that a full capacity crowd will be in attendance for the British Grand Prix – with up to 140,000 fans in the grandstands each day. You haven’t raced in front of such a large audience before in your Formula 1 career to date. What do fans bring to live events – and do you think it will add to the atmosphere and provide an added boost or increase expectations?

“I can only imagine what racing in front of 140,000 fans in Formula 1 can be! I’m really looking forward to getting out there and feel the emotion and atmosphere on a race track like Silverstone.”

 

The British Grand Prix will also debut the Sprint Qualifying format - a 100km race to the checkered flag which will determine the grid for Sunday’s race. Will you approach the weekend differently and do you expect it to shake the grid up? 

“I’m not sure what to expect from the Sprint Qualifying format. I think Formula 1 has kept the same format for quite a few years and it will be nice to get a new format to try out at Silverstone. I think with the current tires you need to plan the amount of laps you’re going to be doing on them. Hopefully we can push flat out for the whole time as normally we do not get to do that. Potentially, every lap will be like a qualifying lap for that short period of time.”

 

Over the last few races, it looks like you’ve been gaining confidence in the car, which has been reflected with faster lap times. Is this the result of steady learning and working with the team, or has something clicked between car and driver?

“It’s a gradual process of being complete with the car and the team, which hopefully won’t stop this year, and will not stop next year because regardless of the amount of laps you do, you learn something else. It’s learning how to drive a car that I’m not very comfortable in but still maximizing the package that I’ve got.”