🇲🇽 F1 2021 - R18: A battle of time vs money

Every driver in Formula 1 has a unique story. From the Mexican journeyman getting a shot at the front, to the offspring of legends and mid-carders, the odd working class story mixing it with the former champions lower down the grid. And plenty more besides. You simply can’t cast a film with a better selection of stories. 

(c) Haas F1 Team on Twitter

While some of them have come up through the junior formulas together and shared podiums and disappointments on their way to the elite, everyone’s background is different. And while most of the drivers have excelled on their way up the ranks, sometimes there are other considerations teams take into account when deciding their driver lineup.

Take 2021’s back-markers Haas. A car that hasn’t been developed over the season and was already undercooked going in has not surprised anyone by finishing at the back in every race this season. 

But there might have been some hope with a youthful, all-rookie driver lineup. Out went veterans Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, in came Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher to rebuild. And this is where the differing stories part of this blog comes into play.

Let’s start with Schumacher. The 22-year-old son of Michael, the dominant driver of the mid-90s and early 2000s, who collected seven world titles in total on his way to global fame with Benetton and later, bringing the glory days back to Ferrari for the first time since 1979. Mick is a fast, skilful driver who made his name with F2 finishing school Prema. He went on a run of 15 feature and sprint races in 2020, not finishing lower than 7th, winning the F2 title and getting picked up by Haas, with one eye on the future before even turning a wheel. 

He has been seemingly earmarked by Ferrari as a driver of the future alongside Charles Leclerc, perhaps with an intermediate move in-between to another Ferrari-engined team in Alfa Romeo. That move isn’t happening in 2022, and if it wasn’t going to happen next year alongside Valtteri Bottas, then with the likes of Theo Pourchaire, the current favourite Guanyu Zhou (who brings a lot of sponsorship, more on that later) and Australian wonderkid Oscar Piastri waiting in the wings, then it probably isn’t happening at Alfa. 

Looking at Nikita Mazepin, the Russian driver spent time with Schumacher in karting and crossed swords with his current team-mate in Formula 2. Mazepin won a pair of races, but while quick, had a reputation for the occasional reckless dash.

Upon his graduation, Mazepin immediately caused outrage in a social media video and sparked an entire movement for him not to take the Haas seat, putting his team in a potentially existential position. They retained him, but it wasn’t like there was going to be any other outcome, given Haas’ financial issues and Mazepin’s father being the title sponsor of the team.

Back in 2019, with the team pushing on from a fifth-placed finish the year before, a backer in the form of an energy drink firm was meant to take the team to the next level. The deal was prematurely terminated after half a season that was so disastrous, it’s going to spawn a book. With the team’s trajectory on the slide, the easiest way to generate money is to bring in a pay driver.

It’s a phrase that comes with a stigma - in a sport where merit is determined by a clock, paying your way into the next stage brings a different type of spotlight. Pay drivers also come in different forms. From Pastor Maldonado’s reported £45m in state sponsorship, or Lance Stroll’s dad owning a team, or even the start of Sergio Perez’s career. It’s possible to shake off the stigma of being a pay driver, but it takes time and ability.Perez probably isn’t in the category anymore and despite Stroll driving for his father, the majority view is that he’s in that Aston Martin on merit, while Maldonado is remembered for a freak win, but a finance package opening the door. 

When Mazepin is considered, he’s not finished higher than 14th, had dangerous scrapes with his team-mate and been criticised by several drivers on the grid. There’s no reason why he can’t suddenly come good, and he has the security of a Haas drive next year, with America’s F1 team putting all their development chips into the 2022 regulations, it would be good for the sport as a whole to see the floor of Formula 1 get closer to the ceiling, especially while the top end accelerates into the distance. 

Four races to go and none of the Haas drivers are likely to get close to the points - Schumacher’s 12th after the chaos of Hungary the nearest they’ve got to avoiding a shutout. Getting into Q2 feels like a reason for celebration and a feat that looks more and more difficult. Despite starting in 14th and 15th because of grid penalties elsewhere, Schumacher bowed out after lap one, while Mazepin settled into irrelevance a few laps after the safety car. 

It’s clear everyone is trying their hardest, but they look desperate for 2022 already. Interlagos is up next and has the added wrinkle of three extra points with sprint qualifying. There will be maybe six sprints next year, but the format could do with an overhaul. That’s what the next blog will be about, but the format would have to change for Haas to be anywhere near it.

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Previously this season

🇺🇸 R17 - The slow decline of three killer initials

📆 It is impossible to put together an F1 calendar that pleases everyone

Everything else this season

NEXT: How to improve sprint qualifying