24/10/2021
NEWS STORY
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin classified 16th and 17th respectively at the United States Grand Prix, Round 17 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Circuit of the Americas.
Schumacher took the start from 16th on Pirelli P Zero Yellow mediums and fought as high as 14th before settling into a rhythm. Schumacher came in after 11 of 56 laps for White hard tires and then made a second scheduled stop on lap 35, reverting to the medium compound. Schumacher saw his tires through to the checkered flag to register 16th place.
Mazepin started from 17th on medium tires but was unfortunately forced to pit at the end of the opening lap due to a loose headrest, leaving him out of sequence on strategy. Mazepin took on hard tires at the unscheduled service and then made a second stop on lap 25 for a fresh set of mediums. Mazepin stopped for a third time on lap 38, for mediums, and came home 17th.
Up front Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen beat Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton to victory, the 18th of his Formula 1 career, with teammate Sergio Perez rounding out the podium celebrations in third.
Nikita Mazepin: "Unfortunately, it wasn't very busy because at turn two on the opening lap the headrest came off in my car. It was quite a sketchy lap because my headrest lifted and blocked both of my mirrors. I had to ask the team if there was anyone around me, hoping there wasn't because I couldn't know where to turn in or not, and then that's over 25 seconds of race time for an unnecessary pitstop. It made it pretty difficult from there onwards as I was driving on my own and trying to make one pitstop work, but with these temperatures and these tires, it was just not possible."
Mick Schumacher: "It was fun - I enjoyed it. Overall, we expected worse so we're happy with what we managed to do with the package we had. I had some tight battles, especially at the start and we were right in the mix, and all of those things are preparing me for next year. We were catching up to Latifi in the last few laps and I think with five more laps we probably would've been close enough to make a move. I really enjoy being in the States and the fans are great spectators - I've loved racing in front of them."
Guenther Steiner: "It was a great event for Formula 1 in Austin - the fans were fantastic. Our race was much of the same as the rest of this year, but we don't give up. The drivers got the cars home safe and we did a lot of learning, and that's the best we can do this year. We have five more to go and we keep working towards 2022."