“We sometimes wake up in a bad mood” – Nikita Mazepin worked with a really large team like Haas for the first time last season and struggled to cope with the people management aspect.
Nikita Mazepin had a disappointing rookie season, finishing last in just about every race of the season he finished. This has put a lot of pressure on him for the upcoming season, with Haas eager to overcome their disastrous 2021 outing.
One problem he admits he faced is dealing with the enormous size of his organisation, having worked in smaller feeder teams in the past. This is something he is working on, and wants to score a 10/10 in, facilitating better coordination between the Haas crew and him.
“There are some key areas you need to be doing. It’s your motivation, because we are human beings and we obviously lack motivation at times like everyone else.
“We sometimes wake up in a bad mood and we have no energy like other people, but we still have to go out there and perform. I would say this was very good.
“Second is teamwork, and learning how to act properly in the team. I think that’s something I need to improve because I feel very comfortable working with three, four or five people.
“But when it’s hundreds, I think I sometimes lack spending the amount of time I need and pay as much personal time as I need with people. So that’s something I need to do.
“When the team is small, you naturally get to talk about things. But when the team’s so big, you need to come up with ideas on how do you unite everyone on a different continent. When there’s like 40 people in the team, that’s a different thing.”
