Steiner: Plan is to have a new chassis for Mazepin at Spa

After the Styrian Grand Prix, Mazepin let it be known that he was not getting equal kit to his fellow rookie and teammate Schumacher. Which Steiner acknowledged as fact but did not give details.

Pressed for details during the Austrian Grand Prix, again Steiner expounded: "It’s in the tolerances. It’s pretty easy to explain. You always try to do your best and one of the chassis is a little bit heavier but not in all circumstances – just when we need a certain weight balance, so it ends up a little bit heavier. It’s marginal – but it is heavier."

Pressed for numbers, the team boss skirted the question: "No, I don’t want to get into numbers – because then we are quoted on numbers and then we go and discuss numbers – because they can vary depending on the racetrack, and the racing because, as I said with the weight balance we need to achieve."

But Steiner did admit that the difference in weight has affected Mazepin's performances: "Absolutely, it has an impact. Heavier cannot have no impact. It’s physics. Again, the next thing you ask me is how much impact?

"Give me a time! I’m not going to go into there because then we start to speculate because it’s not one fixed number. "

It also emerged that Mazepin retaliated to Steiner's ill-conceived spinning top 'Mazespin gift' by presenting the team boss with a present of his own - a door! The team boss explained: "Apparently, in Russia, if you get a present, you need to give a present back.

"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 last year, or two years ago, because of what happened with Kevin and… with Kevin – Romain was not involved in that one, he was the good guy this time, Romain.

"So, what happened with Kevin two years ago, so he thought I needed a new door," said Steiner and added: "The plan is to have a new chassis for Belgium for Mazepin."