Nikita Mazepin (P14): 4/10
Given how much trouble other drivers were getting into this weekend on the tricky Baku street circuit, it's not really any great surprise that Nikita Mazepin brushed the wall a few times in practice and broke his wing at one point on Friday morning. He's a young man in a hurry who doesn't seem to understand yet that everyone has their limits and need to find them, instead of just charging around telling more experienced drivers off for getting in his way. It would be justified if he showed any signs of genuine pace but the Haas is making that impossible. And in any case he was up to half a second a lap slower than his team mate Mick Schumacher in the race, and from lap 10 he spend almost the entire race firmly stuck at the back. He went a lap down on lap 25 but got waved round during the safety car for Lance Stroll's accident and had a similar reprieve under the red flag. It meant he went wheel-to-wheel with Schumacher at the restart and Mazepin pulled no punches; Mick was far from impressed while the team muttered something about a miscommunication. Funny how often that happens with the young Russian.
Mick Schumacher (P13): 6/10
If Nikita Mazepin is the current bad boy of Formula 1, his Haas team mate Mick Schumacher is the head boy dutifully putting in the hours and handing in his homework on time. That he's got more talent at this point than Mazepin is clear, and he was quickest of the pair in practice and qualifying with the exception of FP2 when his track time was curtailed by an oil pressure issue. When it came to the race, both Haas were firmly stuck at the back (guest appearances from out-of-position drivers such as Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi and even Lewis Hamilton notwithstanding) but Schumacher pulled away from Mazepin at a rate of up to half a second a lap, and was a full minute ahead before the field was closed up, first by a safety car and then a red flag which put Mazepin back on the lead lap. It encouraged the Russian to go all-out at the final restart even if it meant driving through Schumacher in the process. Mick was not impressed: “What the f*** was that, honestly?” he said over the team radio. “Seriously, does he want to kill us?” to which his race engineer replied: "Understood, Mick". Perhaps, but can anyone get the message through to Mazepin?
