Haas struggles "irrelevant" to Mazepin

Haas rookie driver Nikita Mazepin has said the struggles of the team in recent years have done nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for the coming season.

Speaking last year, team principal Guenther Steiner made clear development of the 2021 Haas car would end on January 1, with the team focussing all its resources on the new regulations set to come into effect next year.

Haas finished ninth, ahead of only Williams, in the 2020 constructors' standings but, speaking before the December groping incident, Mazepin relayed his excitement for the coming year.

“I’m very much looking forward to it because graduating to F1 is going to be exciting regardless of how the performance of the car is," said the Russian.

“I think at this stage in my career, being a young driver, it’s irrelevant to speak whether the car is good or not.

“I’m obviously aware that the team has had a difficult year, however, my focus is on getting ready for F1."

Not only will Mazepin and his rookie team-mate, Mick Schumacher, need to adapt to a vastly different car to the F2 machinery raced by both last year, but also to the increased demands of the F1 schedule - most notably after the summer break with 11 races set to take place across a 15 week period.

He added: "The calendar is going to be also almost double what I’m used to so those are the challenges that are ahead of me and that is my focus for now.”

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