Nikita Mazepin Q&A: São Paulo Grand Prix

Round 19 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship hosts the final sprint event of the season. With speculation of additional sprint events next year, what have you learned following sprint qualifying in Silverstone and Monza?

“I like sprint events. The issue with them is that you get very little time to adjust to the circuit and having not been to Brazil, it will be a big challenge for me. However, you can’t change it, it’s the same for everybody and I’m going to give it my best.”

 

It’s a track that has hosted many championship showdowns in its time, what racing memories do you have from the Brazilian Grand Prix?

“I remember watching the wet race in Brazil in 2016. It was a crazy one to watch and crazy class the drivers have shown.”

The Autódromo José Carlos Pace has numerous iconic features, including the banked entry into the start/finish straight and the Senna ‘S’ bend – can you describe a lap of the track and where are the most challenging areas?

“I’ll be better at describing the track once I’ve driven there! Right now, I’ve only seen races and onboards, so it will be great to get out there. It seems like it’s a very fast circuit with very slow speeds, so it will be a good challenge. It’s just nice to get to know all of the tracks around the world. As Mexico and Brazil are the types of circuits that have real character to them, being a young driver and getting to drive to these places for work – it’s cool.”