“We don’t know what our competitiveness is going to be” – Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher goes into this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park, on the back of his first retirement of the season last time out in Russia.

Astonishingly the German’s retirement at the Russian Grand Prix was in fact his first of the season, an incredible feat considering he is of course a rookie. Schumacher and the Uralkali Haas F1 Team don’t have time to dwell on the disappointment of their consecutive finishes run coming to an end, as neither Schumacher or Nikita Mazepin have ever raced at the Istanbul circuit.

So with this weekend being Schumacher’s first race at the circuit it will be a brand new experience for the rookie, who is unsure of how competitive the team will be.

“We have to prepare well with the team, obviously the team has raced there last year so we’ll get experience from them and analyze the data from last year, I can analyse videos to see and therefore prepare myself for the race weekend.

“We are not there yet so we don’t know what our competitiveness is going to be but definitely we’ll make sure we do our best and hopefully that will be enough to be close to the field and maybe fight them.”

“I probably won’t get the simulator time” – Nikita Mazepin

Like his team-mate, Mazepin too has never raced at the circuit, however he has visited the venue before. The Turkish Grand Prix was the first race Mazepin ever went too as a child, he will be getting a much more realistic experience this weekend!

The Russian is looking forward to his first time racing at the circuit although is unsure whether he will have time to trial the circuit in the simulator, something which could be very important considering the poor grip levels at the track.

“Turkey will be an interesting experience because I haven’t raced there yet. I probably won’t get the simulator time and it will be a steep learning curve experience but nevertheless, it’s nice to visit there. This is the track that I came to for my first ever grand prix as a child – my dad took me there when I was seven or eight years old. Memories will come to me and I’m looking forward to it.

“From what I know about Turkey, the grip level hasn’t been great, but Formula 1 cars have the tendency to improve that the more you use the track. I’m hoping it will be a fun place. Formula 1 tracks are so high level with Formula 1 and FIA at the moment, that it should be good to drive.”