Former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has sparked controversy by insisting McLaren should now fully commit to Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris in the 2025 Drivers’ Championship battle.
With seven races remaining and Piastri holding a slim 25-point lead over Norris, Steiner believes the time for loyalty to faces and fan favorites has passed.
After a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Piastri crashed out and Norris limped to a lowly seventh, Steiner argues that if they don’t rally behind the Aussie, they risk letting Red Bull’s Max Verstappen swipe the Drivers’ title, which would leave team papaya “looking dumb”.
Baku was a bruising weekend for McLaren, compounded by Verstappen’s dominant display and second consecutive win, narrowing the gap in the standings to both Piastri and Norris.
With the Red Bull ace lurking, Steiner is convinced McLaren’s equal-treatment policy could cost them dearly.
“In the end, you want to win the drivers’ championship as well, not only the constructors’,” Steiner told The Red Flags podcast.
“The team is more important than the driver, and the drivers are, as I always say, and not diminishing, just part of a team.”
Steiner’s point? McLaren’s got two star drivers, but only one can wear the crown.
“Both cannot win, so instead of having two fighting and lose it all, you get somebody to win,” he added.
With Piastri leading the standings, Steiner’s backing the Aussie to be McLaren’s spearhead.
“As much as Lando is the face, and the favoured son, I think McLaren needs to be above that, and will be above that,” he added. “It is crazy, but you have to do it. In my opinion, you have to do it to win.”
Steiner believes McLaren iss flirting with disaster if they don’t act fast.
“I think they will take the decision, because otherwise, if they lose it because of that decision, how dumb do they look?” he warned.
“I want to say, I think McLaren should have learned something out of last year, how they did it. It didn’t work. And if they do the same this year… Up to now, it was like, okay, Max is not a threat anyway.”
But with Verstappen now a real danger, Steiner says McLaren should ditch its “let them race” approach.
“It looks good if you let them race. And it’s good, actually. It not only looks good, it’s good for the people which watch it,” he admitted.
“But now, it’s getting to a point where there could be some damage to the team in losing the drivers’ championship.”
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So, when’s the right moment to pick a number-one driver? Steiner’s answer is crystal clear.
“I would make it now, I would do it, because I just want to make sure I win the championship,” he said. “I said I think Max cannot get near, but if I already get the feeling there is a risk, why would I take it?
“And you also send a message to Max. He will do everything to win it.”
For Steiner, sentiment has no place at this stage of the season: McLaren must choose a champion or risk seeing victory slip through their fingers – and looking “dumb” in the process.
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