Haas F1 driver Nikita Mazepin has pledged to be more involved with the team behind the car during the 2022 season.
The young Russian pay driver has received a lot of flack from Formula 1 fans, the media and even fellow drivers on the grid after a lacklustre first season that many felt he didn't even deserve in the first place.
His start to Formula 1 was already on the backfoot after receiving a seat at Haas almost exclusively due to his father's sponsorship money. Most believed he was not good enough and did not deserve a drive in Formula 1 grid.
Already shrouded by controversy, his season could not have gotten off to a worse start after a video apparently showing him sexually harassing a female companion while he was driving a car surfaced online just days before the 2021 season kicked off.
Things did not get any better for Mazepin, who was comfortably the worst driver on the grid and had so many incidents on track he earned himself the nickname 'Mazespin'.
No one to complain to
While there is no doubt Haas' 2021 car was not competitive in the slightest, any excuse he makes about his performance by blaming it on the car has fallen on deaf ears because of the progress his teammate Mick Schumacher showed throughout the campaign in a similar car.
Apparently, finally realising that ignoring all the issues and hoping things will just get better won't solve any of his problems, Mazepin has now decided that getting familiar with his team and how things work is probably a good idea.
He told AutoSport: "There are some key areas that you need to be doing. It is your motivation because we're human beings, and we obviously lack motivation at times like everybody else. We sometimes wake up in a bad mood, and we have no energy like other people, but we still have to go out there and perform. I would say, this was very good.
"Second is teamwork and learning how to act properly in the team. I think that is something that I need to improve because I feel very comfortable working with three, four, or five people. But when it's hundreds, I think I sometimes lack spending the amount of time I need and pay as much personal time as I need with people. So that's something that I need to do."
