Mazepin "realistic" over Haas points chances

Haas driver Nikita Mazepin is aware he needs to remain "realistic" over his opportunities to fight for points in his rookie Formula 1 season.

With Haas making no secret of the team placing the entirety of its focus on the radical change of regulations for 2022 and halting development on this year's car, the team will likely be left behind.

Whilst this could push the team up the order next year, Mazepin has remained grounded on his expectations for his first season in the sport.

“Being a racing driver you always want to try to win the most amount of races that you can," Mazepin said.

"But it would be silly sitting here and saying that this is what we are going for because we need to be honest and realistic.

“So I am hoping that we will have different opportunities of fighting with other drivers on track, hopefully in the points but I personally don’t know where to stand until we get the first race done and evaluate ourselves in qualifying versus others.

“I’m going to try and do the best job I can and then see where that puts me.”

Aside from a hydraulic problem when Mick Schumacher was behind the wheel on the first morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain, Haas enjoyed three days of trouble-free running with Mazepin completing fewer laps only than Pierre Gasly and Kimi Raikkonen - the Haas driver registering 213 laps across his one-and-a-half days in the car.

The Russian added: “It was important to make a lot of laps because we are very limited with the amount of running that we are going to get this year so the more laps we do, the more familiar I am with the car and competing with guys that have been racing for over 10 years in Formula 1."

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