When he was younger, a teammate warned Mick Schumacher about Nikita Mazepin’s “aggressive” driving style.
The pair have often clashed in different leagues, but this season they are joining side by side as teammates with Haas in Formula 1.
They both had promising years in F2 last year, with Schumacher finishing above and Mazepin P5 in the Drivers Championship, and that is not the only time their paths have crossed.
“We’ve known each other since 2013 where we’ve been friends at TonyKart,” Schumacher said, as Motorsport.com reported.
“Just before that I remember we had one race together where you were racing with Zanardi [team] in La Conca.
“That was the first time I noticed you, because of course… I don’t know, one of my friends said I have to be careful when racing with you because… [laughs] as, fighting wise, he was very aggressive!
“Then obviously 2014 we had another year where it was in KF2, I was in KF3 that year. And after that I think we’d always be racing together, some heroes together, so we’ve never seen each other.
“I think there is respect. Of course, we are now going to work closely together, where there are only two of us, so it will be interesting to see how it goes this year. “
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Relationships between drivers of the same team can appear strong at the beginning of the season, but when one of them starts to outdo the other, that is when things start to tighten up.
With both drivers entering the new campaign as spies, it will be a matter of who changes to Formula 1 as soon as you see which driver can perform better than their team.
For now, however, Mazepin seems happy to be with Schumacher.
“I have a lot of respect for him as a racing driver,” explained the Russian. “I also really like him as a man.
“There are different people in motor sports and some of them are very difficult to get around. But Mick is completely different, so I feel lucky to be obviously my teammate.
“I couldn’t choose it, but it’s good to have a nice guy around you. And also I think it’s a great ability for a team because when you have no negativity and you’re just both pushing forward, it can help us be a lot higher up the line. and we could be on our own. ”
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