Nikita Mazepin avoiding headlines "a very good thing" - Guenther Steiner

Steiner and Mazepin — Photo: © LAT Images

Haas

Mazepin avoiding headlines "a very good thing" - Steiner

Mazepin started the season under a social media cloud

Sam Hall

Saturday 14 August 2021 16:39

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Nikita Mazepin's ability to avoid headlines has been "a very good thing" after his controversial start in F1.

Mazepin sparked fury among the F1 fanbase shortly after his appointment as a Haas driver after posting a video of him groping a female passenger in a car on social media.

A series of incidents, including at turn one of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, did nothing to help the Russian but in recent races Mazepin has been able to avoid the limelight and reduce the number of mistakes.

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"I mean, not being in the headlines he was in, it's a very good thing," Steiner told GPFans Global.

"I think while in the beginning, it seemed a never-ending story, once it started to go away, I wouldn't say things never go away completely, but they wind down.

"Part of it also is behaviour. People saw that he's not the person people wanted him to portray that he is.

"I would say that one - and I said at the beginning - I didn't know him before the end of last year or I would say September, October time last year, so I didn't know the guy, but when I got to know him, I said, 'people think he is what he is not'."

Although both Mazepin and team-mate Mick Schumacher continue to make mistakes in their rookie seasons, Steiner is pleased with the reducing frequency of such errors.

"The mistakes they made in the beginning, I think that somehow you expect it as much as you don't want to expect it but rookies, you know," he explained.

"They try to find their limit and maybe thinking and both drove good F1 cars before.

"Nikita drove for Mercedes and Mick drove a Ferrari. Coming into one of our cars, especially the car this year which is dragging a little bit more, they make a few mistakes.

"But they're [the mistakes] getting less and less and at some stage in their career, hopefully, they don't make any."