The weekend of Qatar Grand Prix officially began with the first two free practice sessions, useful for most of the drivers to learn the characteristics of the new Losail circuit, never faced by the current protagonists of the championship. However, the only two entrants to have had a previous experience on the track located in the heart of the Qatari desert respond to the name of Sergio Perez and Nikita Mazepin.
The latter, who knows the track having tackled it during his stay in GP2 Asia, was nevertheless the author of a Friday to forget; the Russian pilot of the Haas in fact, he only played part of FP1, then returned to the pits with the bottom of the car damaged. A failure that forced the mechanics of the US team to a long repair operation, such as not to allow the Muscovite to take part in PL2. At that point, only Mick Schumacher competed in full in both races, nevertheless not going beyond the 18th place achieved in PL1.
Despite the apparent competitive advantage, Mazepin therefore ended his return to Qatar prematurely, commenting on his day as follows: “I think it’s the fastest circuit I’ve seen this year – he has declared – as there is hardly any slow cornering, which definitely makes it an interesting challenge. The surface is very smooth, and allows for a pleasant experience thanks to the characteristics of the F1 cars. I felt something hit the bottom of my car. It’s frustrating why I was not off the track, I was still within bounds at the time it happened, so I’m afraid these curbs are not entirely delicate with certain cars. Specifically, the contact occurred at a critical point, and we need to be very careful both in qualifying and in the race. Already tomorrow in PL3 I will stay within the white lines. I will not look for speed, but I will undertake to be careful right away and then relaunch from that point onwards ”.
Completely different speech for Mick Schumacher, who arrived in Qatar without ever having tried the Losail track, not even virtually: “I’ve never worked on the simulator – admitted the German – so i went with no expectations. Overall, it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. The track is very fast, and that’s probably it it was not what I had expected. I feel pretty good, I think it’s a good track to race on. It will probably be a bit more difficult for the races, but I’m ready for surprises “.
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