“He can do a good job”- Gunther Steiner flames Nikita Mazepin axing by claiming Pietro Fittipaldi is ready for F1 with Haas stressed by criticism.
Haas is certainly facing a massive backlash from F1 followers, as their newly signed driver Nikita Mazepin is receiving heavy outrage after his video controversy in which he was seen groping a woman and the Russian driver shared it on his social media account.
With many demanding the revocation of Mazepin’s contract with Haas, the American team worried about its funds coming from Mazepin might have to settle without the lucrative monetary package, as apparently, the controversy is harming Haas’ reputation.
Amidst all of this, Steiner has further flared up the controversy by claiming that Pietro Fittipaldi, who served as a reserve driver in 2020 and replaced Romain Grosjean for the Sakhir Grand Prix, is ready for the F1 competition.
“He did a good job. I mean, he kept out of trouble,” Steiner said. “His pace going on in the race was getting better and better, I think he just needed to get it customised.” as per the Autosport.
“I think you know that he didn’t drive a race car for eight or nine months, so it is difficult.” Fittipaldi finished two laps behind the leader in the Sakhir Grand Prix, but Steiner doesn’t blame the Brazilian for it.
“He needed to come in and we had to do some maintenance work on the engine [during] the pitstop that took this long, otherwise we would have maybe not even come in to change tyres,” Steiner explained.
“And then when we sent him out on the last new tyres at the end he was pretty good, you know. And also on the second set of tyres. So I think he showed that he can do it, he can do a good job.”
Fittipaldi grateful for the opportunity
The Brazilian driver is the third generation motorsport racer from his family, his grandfather Emerson Fittipaldi won Formula 1 championship twice in his career. Now, extending his family’s legacy in the sport, he was pleased with Haas giving him the opportunity.
“I was really happy with how we had progressed and with the early pace I had,” he said after Sunday’s season finale. The team have done a great job with me in such a short space of time.
“They really helped me get ready. I’ve been very happy about this opportunity and I’m grateful for it.”
