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Steiner explains why Mazepin gifted him a door

The Haas team principal has explained the story behind Nikita Mazepin's gift of a door at the weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Guenther Steiner has revealed that it's tradition to return presents in Russia which is why Nikita Mazepin brought him a door. Steiner gifted Mazepin a spinning top, a joke in reference to the Russian driver's nickname 'Maze-spin'. "Spin this one – it’s better than spinning the car,” joked Steiner when he handed over the toy. Mazepin got his own back when he carried a door into the Red Bull Ring which has a sign saying '***smashdoor'. This was a reference to the popular Netflix Drive To Survive F1 series when a livid Steiner reacted to Kevin Magnussen by saying "he does not ****smash my door". "Apparently, in Russia, if you get a present, you need to give a present back," Steiner told RacingNews365.com and other select members of the press. "So, we gave him the present of the Mazespin, of this game, so his present back was the door "The door was a present because of two years ago, because of what happened with Kevin. Romain [Grosjean] was not involved in that one, he was the good guy this time, Romain. Nikita thought I needed a new door!"

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🙃 pic.twitter.com/FkwNTkkoqP — Nikita Mazepin (@nikita_mazepin) July 1, 2021

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