'What the f***': Mick Schumacher in ugly spat with F1 teammate

Haas F1 driver Nikita Mazepin had some explaining to do with teammate Mick Schumacher after swerving towards the German driver on the last lap of the Azerbaijan GP.

For a third season the Haas team has been bringing up the rear of the F1 field, with their controversial move to sign Mazepin in order to secure substantial financial backing an unpopular one with fans.

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Mazepin, who found himself embroiled in a social media scandal last year, is already a somewhat unpopular figure among F1 drivers in his rookie season, after several instances of him not obeying blue flags or following qualifying procedures properly.

Schumacher went for an overtake on Mazepin down the main straight on the final lap for 13th position, but as he pulled alongside his teammate, Mazepin moved his car suddenly to the right - nearly causing a collision.

A furious Schumacher was instantly on the team radio to complain after he crossed the line.

“What the f*** was that, honestly?! Seriously, does he want to kill us?” he said.

After the race, Mazepin said he was frustrated to lose the position, saying he had less battery power available for the main straight to keep Schumacher behind.

“The main thing is I’m a little bit upset about losing my position to the teammate on the main straight,” Mazepin said.

“I ran out of battery there, so I was a bit of a sitting passenger, but it is what it is.”

Wary of another conflict between teammates, such as the feud which dogged former Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean's final years with the American outfit, team principal Guenther Steiner said it had been resolved.

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

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

Sergio Perez wins in Baku after Max Verstappen crash

Max Verstappen was cruising toward an easy second straight victory until an unexpected tyre failure turned the Azerbaijan Grand Prix into a two-lap shootout and a shock victory for Sergio Perez.

The finish in Baku just might have been an unintentional preview of the changes Formula One plans to experiment with later this season in an effort to add excitement to the on-track product.

Championship leader Verstappen crashed out of the lead with four laps remaining to bring out a red flag that set up the unconventional shootout from a standing start.

Lewis Hamilton went off course trying to pass Perez for the lead, marking the first time since 2016 that the top two in the championship standings failed to score points.

That made for an unfamiliar podium as Perez, Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly all finished in the top three for the first time this year.

Australian hope Daniel Ricciardo was ninth is his McLaren as his difficult F1 season continued.

Verstappen had no warning his tyre was about to fail as he slammed into the wall. The Dutchman climbed from his car, inspected the tyre and kicked it in anger before stomping off in disgust over the race-changing failure.

"Sometimes you can hate this sport," Verstappen said after the race.

Red Bull was clearly concerned about the Pirelli tyres after a similar accident ended Lance Stroll's race earlier and under red flag the team asked F1 that the cars be allowed to change tyres before the two-lap sprint to the finish.

F1 had previously announced it would experiment with half-hour sprint races in places of qualifying later this season. Baku was an unexpected preview of an even shorter, more explosive format.

With AAP

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