Guenther Steiner has changed tack on Oscar Piastri’s McLaren future. After suggesting last year that the Australian should consider a team switch if his slump continued, the former Haas team principal now believes staying put is the smarter move.
Piastri finished last year’s campaign third in the Drivers’ standings, 13 points behind team-mate Lando Norris in the title fight.
But this season has been harder still: no wins so far, only two podiums and seventh place in the standings on 144 points. His last victory came at Zandvoort in August 2025, and he has now gone 14 races without a podium.
But Steiner, speaking to Speedcafe, sees no reason for Piastri to run from the challenge at Woking.
“In the moment, I think it’s better he stays put, because otherwise he would chicken out of McLaren basically,” Steiner said.
“In my opinion he doesn’t need to do that. He’s good enough to stay there. Get himself back where he was last year. And then see what he’s doing.”
A different verdict from last year
Steiner’s latest advice marks a clear shift from his position late in 2025, when Piastri’s title charge was losing steam. Then, he argued that a winter reset had to deliver a stronger version of the Australian, or a change of scenery might be necessary.
“He just needs to regroup over the winter and come back stronger than before,” he said.
“Otherwise, if he doesn’t come back stronger, I think the best for him is that he changes teams then. But he could come back because I still rate him highly.”
Piastri has yet to rediscover the sustained pace that put him at the head of last year’s championship for much of the campaign. He did, however, suggest before last week’s United States Grand Prix that he was beginning to understand what he needs from the MCL40.
“I feel like I’m slowly getting there, both improving this year and also identifying what I need more of or less of to go quicker from the car,” Piastri said.
‘Try to beat Lando’ before looking elsewhere
Steiner is not dismissing the dip in results, but he argues that Piastri is still competing against a formidable benchmark in Norris rather than being comprehensively outclassed.
“I wouldn’t be too worried about that. He’s still having good results. He’s not losing completely,” Steiner said. “And he’s racing against Lando, who is at the moment one of the best out there.”
©McLaren
A move elsewhere would also be far from straightforward, with few seats available at Formula 1’s leading teams. Steiner’s advice is to focus on the immediate battle before weighing up his longer-term options.
“Obviously there are not many openings as well in big teams, in one of the big four,” the Italian noted.
“So I think in the moment the best thing for him is to stay put in McLaren. Try to do the best job, try to beat Lando, and then he has got other opportunities.”
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For Steiner, Piastri’s current campaign is a setback, not a career crisis – and the 25-year-old has time to put it right.
“We all get good years. We all get bad years. And he is not having a bad year. He’s having an average year. Call it like this. But it’s not bad,” he concluded.
“He’s still young, so the biggest thing is not to panic now. There’s no need for panic.”
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