05/06/2021
NEWS STORY
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin qualified 17th and 18th, respectively, for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Round 6 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Baku City Circuit, Baku.
Schumacher and Mazepin attacked Q1 exclusively on the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tire. The on-track action was halted early with a red flag stop - the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll impacting the barrier at turn 15. 14 minutes remained on the clock when the session went green. Schumacher was first to record an opening run setting a 1:44.254 with Mazepin directly behind on a 1:44.281 before a second red flag, this time for Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi - again at turn 15, saw the field return to the pits.
With fresh tires, and just nine minutes left at the second re-start, both VF-21's went to work. Schumacher failed to better his earlier time on his first run, but his final flying lap produced a 1:44.158 to earn 17th on the grid. Mazepin bagged a 1:44.238 on his opening tour and was on-pace to improve but a rear lock-up at turn three ended his second charge leaving him 18th overall.
Charles Leclerc claimed a second consecutive pole position of the season and the ninth of his Formula 1 career. Leclerc's fastest Q3 lap of 1:41.218 beat Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by .232 of a second.
Nikita Mazepin: "To be honest it's the most disappointed I've been with my job since being in Formula 1. The pace has been strong from my internal team and myself all weekend. It was really annoying to make a mistake on my quick lap when the tires are only there for that one lap. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to transfer the mindset of just finishing laps, because, from where I come from, fighting for the extra half a tenth or tenth, it can mean the difference between pole or not. Obviously, we're very far from that, but I'm still trying to do my 101 percent, and today it was too much. I'm very disappointed."
Mick Schumacher: "A lot of red flags, a lot of stuff going on. Track conditions changed quite a bit too which was expected but on the other hand, unexpected for me. In general, we managed to position the car where we wanted it to but unfortunately on the last set I made a mistake at T5 which cost us some lap time. Overall, we maximized what we had and now it's up to tomorrow's race. In qualifying we've seen a massive amount of action and I think the action will be there tomorrow in the race."
Guenther Steiner: "It was again a learning session for our guys. A lot can be learned in a qualifying session like this - it was pretty exciting. The good thing is, we kept out of the crashes, and there were quite a few that happened. There's a lot to learn with things like slipstreaming at this race track. I think they've learned a lot in a very short time. Hopefully going forward, that helps them in the future. Otherwise, this was the best we could do today, and we have two cars still intact. Tomorrow we go racing."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Baku, here.