The 2021 Dutch GP belonged to Max Verstappen, his entire Red Bull contingent and the massive fan base. Yet, that wasn’t the only talking point about the returning race to the F1 calendar that marked a comeback after no fewer than thirty-six years. While the likes of Sergio Perez registered a valiant effort, earning the ‘driver of the day,’ tag, the likes of Nikita Mazepin endured the wrath of F1 pundits and fans for driving antics that weren’t the best or gentlest on track.
Fact being that Nikita Mazepin wasn’t the smoothest in either of the three days at the recently-concluded 2021 Dutch GP, which includes the free practice, qualifying and eventually, the race.
In stark contrast, however, to the recent races where it had appeared that Mazepin, who’s currently in his F1 debut year, was beginning to settle, his Dutch GP drive showed that he was not only erratic on occasions, but in too much of a hurry to prove a point. This, in the end, didn’t offer the smoothest of experiences to the remainder of the drivers on the grid.
As a result of his driving antics that were neither safe nor alluding to the fact that the somewhat controversial Russian driver was actually conducting himself as a true racer, Mazepin earned the ire of pundits like former world champion Jenson Button.
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This brings us to the key question that what really did Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion (BAR Honda) had to say about the young Haas driver?
Apart from spinning on the free practice day, Mazepin wasn’t too sure of himself during the Grand Prix, which prompted those who saw the race closely, such as Button to state the following:
On race day, Schumacher accused Mazepin of pushing him into the pit lane during an on-track squabble, saying: “I think I’m not the only driver he did that to today. I’m sure a few people will look at it and hopefully consequences will come into play in the future.”
While they clearly do not get on, Schumacher may be stuck with Mazepin as a team-mate for some time to come as his colleague’s father, Dmitry, is the Haas team’s main sponsor.
Button, however, believes that if Mazepin jnr wants to make any kind of success of his career, he will need to tone down his aggression which is clearly rubbing some people up the wrong way.
That said, there still are quite a few races remaining on the calendar. The next one being at the home of the Tifosi, Monza called the ‘Temple of Speed,’ that should offer Mazepin a fresh new chance to begin again and think about his antics and driving style.
He’s young and can well rectify some of the mistakes at the moment before they go onto become irreplaceable habits. The son of a prominent Russian billionaire has all the he time on him to do so. Why not try and end the 2021 season with, at least, a point so as to get going in the top flight of Grand Prix racing?