18/07/2021
NEWS STORY
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher classified 17th and 18th respectively at the British Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday.
Schumacher lined up from 18th position, with Mazepin 19th, and were equipped with Pirelli's P Zero Yellow medium tires. Both drivers made strong starts on a frenetic opening lap, with Schumacher gaining two spots and Mazepin picking up one position. The race was then red-flagged due to a sizeable accident involving championship leader Max Verstappen.
Race Director Michael Masi opted for a standing restart, from which Schumacher ran 15th, and Mazepin 18th, before settling into a rhythm at the rear of the train. Schumacher came in on lap 25 to change onto White hard tires while one lap later Mazepin also boxed to take on the harder compound. Shortly after the pit stop phase Mazepin passed his teammate and they retained their track order through to the checkered flag - finishing 17th and 18th after 52 laps and taking the ninth successive double finish for Uralkali Haas F1 Team.
Nikita Mazepin: "It was tough - very hot! The weekend has been positive. I was very happy with the balance that we managed to extract out of the car, but we were slow compared to other teams - we were not able to fight anybody today. We obviously weren't able to change the car as much as other weekends, but I think we found a very good set-up early on in the weekend, which perhaps wasn't ultimately the best thing in qualifying but then worked quite well on a track that was degrading like this. I had to push very hard in the beginning to try and get in front because you know that this track is difficult to overtake on, and I used a lot of my tires but then I put in probably my best overtake in the last three years."
Mick Schumacher: "It wasn't easy. Unfortunately, we were struggling with tires and the approach that we had. We were trying not to overheat the tires over the first few laps, and it seems like Nikita was pushing a bit harder in the first few laps and still managed to keep his tires in the window. I will have to analyze how as there was a lot of margin for me to go faster. We will have to learn from it and try and get back stronger in Budapest."
Guenther Steiner: "It was a good race today for us. We finished not where we want to finish but both guys were fighting hard and clean - this is a part of the learning and we want to take this forward. We had good starts. There was a lot of drama at the beginning of the race, and we went through that very calmly and they both delivered. At the moment, this is what is possible. They both fought hard but clean and that's the most important thing for me."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.