Zak Brown, look away: Steiner offers Norris a MotoGP test!

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has never been shy about blurring the line between serious motorsport and mischievous fun.

Now, as he prepares to swap the F1 pit wall for the MotoGP paddock, he’s extended a tantalizing – and slightly cheeky – invitation to newly crowned Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris: how about a spin on a MotoGP bike?

With Steiner set to lead the Red Bull KTM Tech3 operation from 2026 after his consortium completed a full takeover of the team in September 2025, the famously blunt Italian is already putting his stamp on the project.

And what better way than by tempting F1’s newest champion onto two wheels?

Norris’ First Love Was on Two Wheels

For Norris, the offer strikes close to home. Long before Formula 1 glory, motorcycles were where his racing heart truly lay. Speaking at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh earlier this year, the McLaren star opened up about his roots.

"You know what, I would love to do motorbike stuff. That's actually where I started," Norris said. "So I did horse riding - I hated that. Quad biking - my dad sold it, he said it got stolen, he just sold it because it was too dangerous for me. Then I went to motocross.

"So I love dirt motorsport - motorbikes, motocross, quad bikes, I loved all of that before I ever watched Formula 1, before I ever saw road racing, or anything.

"For me, buggies and desert stuff, I was like 'this is the coolest stuff in the world.' So that's actually what I wanted to do before everything. Motorbikes was where a lot of my love started, my hero was Valentino Rossi."

Not exactly the background you’d expect from a polished F1 champion – and exactly the kind of story Steiner loves.

Steiner’s Papaya-Colored Offer

Fresh off Norris’ championship triumph at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Steiner couldn’t resist dangling the carrot. Appearing on The Red Flags Podcast, he laid out the invitation with trademark humor.

"He is welcome to ride our bike next year. It has the same colour [as the McLaren], papaya… OK, it’s orange, but they are very similar," Steiner said.

"He can come and ride it; we will find a way to arrange it. It would be something nice for him, although I don’t know if Zak Brown would be happy to see him ride a MotoGP bike."

That last line landed exactly as intended – half joke, half knowing nod to the nervous executives who might prefer their world champion sticking to four wheels.

Whether Norris ever takes Steiner up on the offer remains to be seen. But in a paddock often weighed down by corporate polish, the idea of F1’s newest champion rediscovering his two-wheeled roots – under the watchful eye of Guenther Steiner – feels like motorsport mischief at its finest.

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