‘Does he want to kill us?’ – Mick Schumacher after near miss with Nikita Mazepin

Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent

Mick Schumacher questioned whether his team-mate Nikita Mazepin was trying to “kill us” in the closing metres of Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champion Michael, moved into Mazepin’s slipstream as they approached speeds of 200mph on the start-finish straight in Baku.

But in defending 13th place, Russian Mazepin suddenly jinked to the right in a move to prevent his Haas team-mate from getting by and squeezing him against the concrete wall.

Schumacher, in only his sixth Formula One race, responded in time to avoid a devastating accident.

As he passed Mazepin, the German gesticulated wildly with his right hand before venting his fury over the radio after crossing the line seven thousandths of a second clear.

“What the f*** was that?,” yelled Schumacher, 22. “Honestly, seriously, does he want to kill us?”

In his maiden campaign, Schumacher has been comfortably quicker than Mazepin – the son of Russian billionaire oligarch Dmitry Mazepin – who has struggled to adapt to life in motor racing’s elite category.

Schumacher was ahead of Mazepin, 22, throughout Sunday’s race in Baku, only falling behind his team-mate at the restart following Max Verstappen’s late crash.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner attempted to diffuse the situation between his two rookie drivers on Sunday night.

Steiner said: “Obviously, there was a situation on the straight that was all resolved, and we’ve cleared the air.

“There was some misunderstanding, but we’re fine and all moving on from it.”

Schumacher, the Formula Two champion, has spent his debut season at the back of the field in his underwhelming Haas machinery.

But he is a Ferrari academy driver and could yet follow in his father’s footsteps by turning out for the famous Italian team.

Schumacher Snr won five consecutive titles with Ferrari at the turn of the century, but he has not been seen in public following his devastating skiing accident on the French Alps in 2013.

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