Mazepin angry with himself after Bahrain opening lap crash on F1 debut

Nikita Mazepin has taken full responsibility for his crash on the opening lap of the season-opening Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Mazepin's debut for Haas ended prematurely after he lost control of his car on the exit of Turn 2, clattering into the barriers on the outside.

It's been a tricky weekend for the Russian rookie, as he spun twice in qualifying and two further times in practice across the weekend.

Speaking about the opening lap in Bahrain, Mazepin said: “Very simple, I made a mistake. The tyres were cold and I got on the kerb, took too much throttle and spun. Totally my mistake.  Very sorry for the team because they deserve to do much better than that. Very angry with myself… yeah, sorry for the team.

“Obviously there’s always positives to take. My days on track are very long. They include loads of things, so the learning experience is obviously there. You learn a lot during the days. You have your ups and down, but this is one of the biggest downs, but that’s life.”

Mazepin had made a good start from 19th on the grid and was challenging teammate Mick Schumacher on the exit of Turn 2.

Explaining the incident further, Mazepin wanted to ensure he didn’t have contact with his teammate and thus spun when he took too much kerb on the exit of the corner.

“The start was quite good, Mazepin added. “I got into turn two [and] on the outside, Mick [Schumacher] was very close. I was focused on making sure we didn’t make contact.

“I got on the kerb and got too much on the throttle and lost the car. There was no way to get it back. It was one of those very bad days. Very disappointed."