During the Italian GP in Monza on Sunday, the Haas teammates enjoyed another come together.
It may have taken a long time, but Nikita Mazepin has finally admitted to being responsible for an incident that occurred on a Formula 1 racetrack.
The Haas driver has had some sort of falling out with his teammate Mick Schumacher throughout the 2021 Formula One season, and after the two exchanged words at the Dutch GP, there was further drama at Monza when the Russian put the German into a spin.
“I think that one is really simple, it was my mistake and I have no shame [in having] to apologise,” the Russian told reporters after the race.
“I’m sure he will make a lot of mistakes in the future and I will make a lot of mistakes in the future and the most important thing is to remain a human
“It was my mess-up, no discussion on it. I deserved the penalty even though it wasn’t on purpose and I was fortunate he didn’t lose too much time by it. He was able to spin the car round straight away.
“It was my fault, now I just say sorry.
“When you have a car that doesn’t have much downforce it’s difficult to stay close and you really only have one opportunity to go for it.
“I felt like Mick braked early so I put my nose there, and then when my nose was there it wasn’t enough to say the corner was mine.
“It was just a racing thing. It happens a lot, you’ve seen it for so many drivers. I did totally deserve a penalty but I couldn’t have done anything when I was there.”
Mazepin was given a five-second penalty for the incident, but an engine failure forced him to retire from the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher, on the other hand, appeared to be unconcerned about the situation.
“I think in my case, it’s really tight, we’re fighting, and obviously low downforce,” Schumacher said after the race. “I haven’t seen it. I have to see, but again for me, I felt this race was good, and I don’t think it would really have changed anything to our end race position.”
Meanwhile, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believed that their two drivers were improving and learning.
“Obviously, again we had a run-in between the two drivers,” said Steiner afterwards, “but they cleared the air about it.
“What was said was said and they are good. We’re making progress on that side and hopefully we can keep it like this. I think our two guys learned from the last races.”
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