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Guenther Steiner has always been an unconventional Formula 1 crew chief, as he proved last week when he gave his driver Nikita Mazepin a spinning top – a joke in reference to the nickname “Maze-spin” which the Russian won among some fans in his first year in F1.
“Spinning this one – it’s better than spinning the car,” Steiner joked when he handed the toy over.
And this week, Mazepin returned the favor with his own gift of choice for his boss: a door he took to the Red Bull Ring circuit with a sign that read “*** smashdoor” – a reference to a moment captured in the first series of the Netflix program Drive To Survive when an enraged Steiner reacted to his then driver, Kevin Magnussen, slamming a door in frustration saying “he won’t **** smash my door”.
READ MORE: Mazepin to get new Haas chassis after summer vacation as Steiner says current car ‘slows it down’
“Guenther, you know as a Russian people, if we get a gift and don’t give anything back, it’s notorious for not being polite, and we’re anything but polite,” Mazepin told his boss. “We have very good results in manners and that’s why I got the idea with some of my followers that you have a broken door from last year or the year before with Kevin, and there’s your “*** smashdoor”.
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Steiner accused Magnussen himself of being involved in the idea, before telling Mazepin: “You said that in Russia you have to be polite – yes, you are Russian, but you are not polite!
“I appreciate the door, thanks for the door,” he added, “but otherwise I’m not so sure, and the hotel is certainly missing a door.”
READ MORE: “Felt like a carrot about to be grabbed by a rabbit” – Mazepin explains his “painful” Styrian GP
Steiner was asked about the gift at Friday’s press conference ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and explained: “Apparently in Russia if you get a gift you have to return it. so offered the ‘Maze-spin’, so her back giveaway was the door, and the door was a giveaway because of two years ago with what happened with Kevin – Romain [Grosjean] wasn’t involved in that one, he was the right guy this time – so he figured I needed a new door. “
Russian honor is therefore satisfied, and Guenther has a new door. Will this be the end – or will Haas’ Christmas party see a particularly unusual Secret Santa series …?
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