Haas "expected more mistakes" from Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin

Haas

Haas "expected more mistakes" from Schumacher and Mazepin

Schumacher and Mazepin enter the season as the only rookie pairing on the grid

Ewan Gale

Thursday 18 March 2021 16:30

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has conceded to surprise rookie pairing Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin did not make more mistakes during their Formula 1 testing debuts.

Schumacher and Mazepin barely put a wheel out of place over the three days at the Bahrain International Circuit as they ground out over 400 laps between them, with their lack of experience having no detrimental effect on the team's preparations.

It has left Steiner with no qualms over their abilities ahead of the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 28.

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"These two guys are well prepared, their debriefs are very good," said Steiner. "They did a good job.

"I expected more issues, more little mistakes or anything but they did their homework.

“I am very happy with what we did because whatever happened we did all the laps, and I think the biggest thing for them was just to learn, to do laps just to get used to it. There were no big issues and also no little ones."

Whilst both drivers had experienced F1 machinery before this season through test and practice outings, they had never needed to fully integrate themselves within a team that is vastly expanded upon a Formula 2 outfit.

This is why Steiner appreciates he cannot expect too much from his drivers as yet in terms of performance.

“For sure, you are learning," added Steiner. "They are learning to work more with their engineers and things like this, getting to know each other. They know their characters and personalities but otherwise, it was very good.

“I think with experienced drivers what you would do is you would try immediately to find more performance but I think the most performance from rookies comes when they get to know the team and the car.

"There is performance coming at the moment because they have to get adapted to it and see what they actually can do with the car and to teach them if they change things what happens."