Haas 'MazeSpin' proves Mazepin is not a "miserable young man" - Steiner

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes he has proven Nikita Mazepin is not a "miserable young man" after the Russian displayed his sense of humour in accepting an unusual gift.

Mazepin has faced an uphill battle to win fans over during his rookie F1 season, in particular, given his off-track antics and incidents in the opening races, including a number of spins that quickly earned him the nickname 'Mazespin'.

That resulted in Steiner presenting Mazepin with his own 'Maze-spin' spinning top during the course of the Styrian Grand Prix weekend.

Asked if it had been difficult to convince him to take part in the video, Steiner replied: "He was not uncomfortable, he was pretty happy.

"There is a happy Nikita Mazepin as well, you know. You all think he is an unhappy kid, he is this miserable young man but he has a good sense of humour."

Suggesting Mazepin has become accustomed "to the social media storm", Steiner added: "He was on the wrong side at some stage.

"In the end, as I say, social media can be good and bad to you. It was an idea in the team to do this to him and then we did it."

Steiner felt it was pleasing to be able to use social media to promote Mazepin in a positive and "funny" light.

"It seems to be everything on social media about Nikita is about bad things," said Steiner.

"There can be also good things. Try to use it to your advantage and get away from the naysayers."

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A post shared by Nikita Mazepin (@nikita_mazepin)

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