The Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix that took place last weekend was not one of the easiest races for Lewis Hamilton. He started 11th due to the use of the fourth seasonal heat engine (after the 3 units there is a penalty), the 7-time world champion tried to recover but had to stop in fifth position, mainly held back by a strategy that proved to be incorrect and graining which hit him in the early laps with the second set of Intermediate tires of his race.
These are the facts that made the GP difficult for the Mercedes driver. But there is more, because Lewis risked in a concrete way to bring home zero points due to a maneuver that Nikita Mazepin immediately considered very dangerous.
On lap 28, the Haas F1 team driver was about to be dubbed by Lewis Hamilton, intent on recovering from a poor start. Arriving at Turn 11 Mazepin decided not to move to give way to the Mercedes driver. Hamilton, on the other hand, seemed convinced to pass, thinking that the Russian should give him the way.
This, however, did not happen. Mazepin, as mentioned, continued to occupy the main trajectory and almost triggered an accident which, for Hamilton’s world hopes, would have had disastrous consequences. Lewis avoided contact by shifting the line and braking with conviction. Then he managed to pass Mazepin a few hundred meters later, avoiding making gestures towards his colleague.
At the end of the race Mazepin explained what had happened, giving his version of the facts and, first of all, immediately apologizing to Hamilton: “First of all I would like to sincerely apologize to Lewis. I am extremely sorry. I had told the team that I could not to see anything from the mirrors and that I needed an adequate guide from the garage to know where the other cars were. “
“The problem turned out to be the water spray. In Turkey it’s not exactly the cleanest we’ve found so far. So it flies and then dries up, not showing me anything. I was driving blind.”
“When you have so many cars that overtake you and overtake you … Not once, but twice … Well, it was a disaster. I am happy to have avoided contact. I will definitely see Lewis and apologize directly to him, “said the Haas F1 team driver.
The same problem was also encountered by other pilots. Above all Lando Norris, McLaren team driver, and Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri team driver. The British, in this regard, said: “I could not see anything. The water did not dry out, in Turkey it was oily, dirty, so it made everything more blurred”.
This, however, was Tsunoda’s opinion at the end of the race: “There wasn’t a clean area of the track. I couldn’t see anything because of the dirt and dust. On the other hand, I thought I had someone behind and I started to push. I turned around and ruined my race “.