Steiner’s U-turn: McLaren's papaya rules are 'made for Max'

Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has changed his tune on Max Verstappen’s 2025 title prospects, admitting the Red Bull ace is still very much in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world championship – cheekily adding that McLaren might just help him get there.

“I was completely no a few races ago, I’m saying yes,” Steiner told The Red Flags Podcast when asked if Verstappen could still win the title. “And his best ally to win this championship is McLaren.”

Then, with a grin, he dropped the punchline that set off a round of laughter: “The papaya rules are for Max.”

The quip sparked a wave of chuckles, with the podcast hosts playfully noting the ironic overlap between Verstappen’s orange-clad army of fans and McLaren’s vibrant papaya livery. It’s a match made in F1 chaos, and Steiner’s not shying away from stirring the pot.

Steiner Takes Aim at Piastri’s Slump

Turning to McLaren’s own camp, Steiner didn’t hold back on Oscar Piastri’s recent dip in form following a scrappy Mexico City Grand Prix.

“I mean it wasn’t good enough to be world champion, no? He’s struggling now and I don’t know what exactly is happening but one of the things I could conclude out of it is that, Oscar being... he doesn’t get support from the team to win the championship,” Steiner said.

“You lose a little bit your mojo. You have doubts and you don’t perform — as you called the dice man — you don’t perform anymore without, you know… I’m here to win, because at the beginning of the season he had no pressure because he was number two in the team and — unofficially, obviously not officially — but again Lando is there a lot longer, he’s a lot older, he’s got a lot more experience.”

“Oscar comes up, wins races, puts himself in the position… I mean everything goes right. Then I think with all these papaya rules I don’t remember them all when they, you know, ‘let him pass,’ ‘let him go,’ ‘Oh, I go.’ I mean, ‘let Max go,’ all that stuff.

“In the end, I think he lost a little bit of confidence and therefore qualifying, you’re out there on your own. It’s just difficult. Didn’t have a good lap. You start in Mexico where he started. You haven’t got a chance, you know?”

Mexico’s Mirage – Steiner Urges Caution

Despite his criticisms, Steiner warned against reading too much into McLaren’s recent gains or Red Bull’s apparent struggles at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“I think going back to the performance of McLaren and Red Bull in Mexico – Mexico is such a special race course with the altitude,” he explained. “So we shouldn’t jump to a conclusion that the Red Bull is not good anymore.

“I wouldn’t say yes or no. I just would say I don’t know because it’s one of the things – Mexico you can have a very good car and you don’t know where it is coming from because, it’s like, you don’t develop a specific car for Mexico because you put a lot more cooling in the car and you lose obviously downforce, and some people lose more and some less but it’s not something you do.

“You always try not to lose downforce by cooling the car more but sometimes it goes better, sometimes worse. So I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that the Red Bull is not as good as it was in Austin.”

Steiner’s verdict? Verstappen’s dominance may have been dented in recent rounds, but the Italian still sees the Dutchman in control – and if McLaren’s “papaya rules” really are working in his favor, the road to a fifth world title might just run through Woking’s shade of orange.

Read also: 'Confidence increased’ – Stella bullish on title glory after Norris win

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