Haas rookies 'drinking from a water hose' as learning continues

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin are "drinking from a water hose" as their apprenticeship in F1 continues with each passing race.

The US outfit's rookies were dealt a challenging second race at Imola, confronting wet conditions in an F1 for the very first time in their short career.

Although both drivers made it to the checkered flag, their afternoon was anything but straightforward with a few mistakes and off-track excursions predictably hampering their efforts.

For Steiner, the disrupted race was but another valuable learning experience.

"We just got the rain and had to deal with it and learn from it," explained the Haas team principal. "The drivers are drinking from a water hose at the moment, every grand prix is bringing something new up.

"For learning it’s ideal, just learning things like the processes and how to behave in these situations. Once you’ve done these things once, the second time – for sure, it brings a lot less stress I would say.

"Do you want it all at the beginning – maybe not, but if it comes, you take the experience. I think it’s a good thing all these new experiences."

Formula 1's upcoming double-header, with successive race weekends taking place at Portimão and Barcelona, will be another first for Schumacher and Mazepin.

And again, Steiner will simply encourage his drivers to take it in their stride as another building experience.

"Nothing different from the first two races – get as much experience as possible, get both drivers to the finish in both races, keep learning and increase their race knowledge in Formula 1," commented Steiner.

"The target has not changed, we just keep our heads down and learn as much as possible."

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