Paris (AFP)

One has a surname synonymous with Formula 1, the other a billionaire father, the last all of Japan behind him: Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin and Yuki Tsunoda start in F1 this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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Schumacher (Haas), the most anticipated

Mick brings Schumacher - and the initials "MSC" - back to an F1 grid.

"I am proud of it, it is a + boost +, a daily motivation", recently explained the young German.

Beginning at 22, like Michael thirty years ago at the 1991 Belgian GP, ​​he inevitably raises great expectations.

The young blond with blue eyes born in Switzerland, characteristics which distinguish him from his father, does not escape doubts as to the reason which carried him to the highest level.

If it certainly helps to be called Schumacher and to be supported by Ferrari, through his youth sector, Mick has also been able to show his qualities since his beginnings in karting under the name of his mother, Betsch.

Hardworking, serious and consistent, he won the title of European Formula 3 champion in 2018 and F2 champion last year.

In 2021, he will especially have to be patient: he arrives in one of the worst cars, penultimate in 2020, and his Haas team has warned that it will not develop its car in 2021, focusing its investments on 2022.

Before being able to verify the adage "like father, like son", with as father a legend to the seven world titles - a record jointly held with Lewis Hamilton - it will be necessary to wait.

The goal will already be to beat another blonde of 1.76 m and 22 years old like him: Nikita Mazepin, his teammate.

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Mazepin (Haas), the most sulphurous

Even before entering F1, Nikita Mazepin is singled out.

Because of several controversies, the last of which in December, when he posted a video on Instagram showing him trying to touch the breast of a young woman.

If he tries awkwardly since to apologize, Mazepin arrives in the big leagues with a dogged image.

In 2016, he had already made a name for himself by hitting another pilot, Callum Ilott.

And on the track too, Mazepin has the reputation of being an aggressive driver, even dangerous, penalized several times in F2, where he finished 5th last year.

Mazepin will especially have to take off the label of "paying driver".

His billionaire father Dmitry Mazepin is the owner of Russian mineral fertilizer manufacturer Uralchem ​​and non-executive director of Uralkali, a potash fertilizer company ... and Haas' new title sponsor.

"I am not the only driver who has to face this, I am proud of my family and of my father", swept Mazepin during the presentation of the single-seater Haas 2021, repainted in the colors white-blue-red of the flag Russian.

Now, it is on the track that Mazepin wants to answer: "I have to prove myself in F1, and I will do it".

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Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), the youngest

At 20, Yuki Tsunoda is the first F1 driver born in the 2000s. The youngest of the twenty competitors entered, the Japanese is also the smallest, at the height of his 1.59 m.

Third in F2 last year, unlike the other two rookies, he will benefit from a high-performance car capable of winning points.

"Maybe a Top 10 or a Top 8 would be good" at the end of the season, he told AFP during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

A life-size test that he finished with the second fastest time behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

Symbolic performance but which can give wings.

"Today I'm trying to understand the car better, to learn from my mistakes. Maybe at the end of the season I'll aim for more, but for now I'm a rookie and I don't even know not what's going to happen in the race, ”he explained.

The first Japanese driver in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014, Tsunoda is "very honored to drive Formula 1 as a Japanese".

"I am really looking forward to driving at Suzuka this year (October 10), in front of the Japanese fans", added the one who is supported by Honda, engine manufacturer of AlphaTauri and Red Bull, team towards which Tsunoda inevitably tends, like all the pilots of the Red Bull sector.

For that, it will be necessary first of all to stand out from his teammate Pierre Gasly: ​​"We have a very good relationship with Pierre, but in the race, we will be enemies".

Rookie, he has it all figured out.

© 2021 AFP