“We always knew what we were going into, and ’22 is the year when we put things together and I think I’m in a good place”: Russian driver believes that the difficulties faced throughout 2021 will help bring the best out of him next year

Nikita Mazepin will stay with Haas until 2022 after failing to score any Q2 qualifying or points, despite his teammate Mick Schumacher making two Q2 outings

After pouring resources into its new project, Haas is seeking to return to the midfield, electing not to build the 2021 package after a poor showing last season.

“It’s definitely been a very long year, Racing in Formula 1 is a lot longer than any category I’ve previously done, 22 races is a lot.

F1 is not consistent and small steps lead to glory

Lots of positives to be taken especially the races in Britain, Brazil and Mexico were positives for the Russian racer.

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“It’s difficult, as overall it was positive, I’ve made a huge step forward in my confidence and in my understanding from the point where we started. “I’ve had good races, some difficult ones, some good ones, difficult ones – life in F1 isn’t consistent for everyone.

“We always knew what we were going into, and ’22 is the year when we put things together and I think I’m in a good place.”

“That you need to eat an elephant bite by bite. F1, and an elephant, to me, seems very similar” Mazepin draws comparison with an Elephant to F1

Despite this, Mazepin believes the difficult experiences will benefit him and Haas in 2022 stating: “Driving a more balanced and predictable car should make it easier, as ultimately for me it is about going through the purpose of myself and racing and feeling like you can influence as a result as at the moment P19 is a bit difficult to go home satisfied.”

When asked what he learned, Mazepin replied: “That you need to eat an elephant bite by bite. F1, and an elephant, to me, seems very similar.”

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“I don’t want to run ahead because I want to see the challenges that come up and deal with them, I had a few good battles this year with some faster cars and I felt comfortable.”

Haas looks to bring their 2016-17 glory days back and looks to be back fighting in the midfield order from the next year