Formula 1 | Haas, Schumacher and Mazepin's assessments at the end of free practice in Austin

Encouraging start for Mick Schumacher on the Friday of free practice valid for the United States Grand Prix, the 17th round of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. The German from Haas, despite the technical difficulties associated with the single-seater, managed to best interpret the bumps of the Circuit of the Americas, finding a feeling that allowed him to close the afternoon's free practice in 17th place, well ahead of his teammate, Nikita Mazepin. An interesting performance that gives the team hope for qualification.

“I loved driving on this track and it's very nice to see how much crowd there is in the grandstands,” said the Haas German. “The start of my first weekend in Austin was decent, although we still have a lot to do in terms of set-up. Some adjustments have brought the desired results, while others have not, so we will have to find the right compromise for the remainder of the weekend. It would be nice to finish in Q2 again and we must work towards that direction. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

Here are Nikita Mazepin's assessments: “The asphalt is very bumpy and this doesn't make the driving ideal, even if this particularity makes the track full of character. The track is very long and for some strange reason I have never managed to complete a clean lap, without traffic. The degradation analyzed in FP2 is quite high, which is why we will have to work in depth ahead of tomorrow. We didn't find the grip they were hoping for, even if tomorrow, with a rubberized track, the situation should improve on paper."