Former Haas Formula One team principal Guenther Steiner has urged McLaren to shift their approach after wrapping up the F1 constructors’ title, and believes they should now favour Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris in the drivers’ world championship battle. It comes after Norris collided with Piastri during a first-lap incident at the Singapore GP that raised tensions between the McLaren teammates and set off alarm bells for many onlookers, including Steiner.
McLaren ultimately won the constructors’ title in Singapore after a third and fourth-placed finish for Norris and Piastri, respectively. But the incident has threatened to sour the relationship between Piastri and Norris, who escaped sanction for making contact with the Aussie driver and sending him towards the barriers at Turn 3.
McLaren have been urged to favour Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris in the F1 drivers’ championship or risk losing the title altogether. Pic: Getty
Piastri was annoyed that McLaren took no action against Norris after insisting that his teammate should have given back the position. The Aussie made his feelings clear after hitting out at Norris over team radio but after conducting a review of the incident, McLaren bosses were satisfied they could move on as a team with no further action necessary.
But with the F1 constructors’ title wrapped up, Steiner believes McLaren should now be working to ensure one of their drivers wins the world championship. And with Piastri holding a 22-point lead over Norris with six races remaining, the former Haas team boss says it would be in the team’s best interests to start favouring the Aussie, or risk losing the world title altogether.
“Either you let them race or if you’re getting worried to lose the World Championship, you have to make the call,” Steiner said. “You have to tell one guy, and obviously that one guy is Oscar in the moment because he has got more points than Lando.”
Former Haas boss urges McLaren to favour Oscar Piastri
The competitive fire between the two McLaren drivers has already led to one disaster this season when Norris crashed out of the Canadian GP trying to overtake Piastri. And with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen now just 41 points behind Norris and 63 points off Piastri’s lead – and back to some of his best form – Steiner says it doesn’t make sense for McLaren to encourage their drivers to push the envelope.
“I’m sorry, and it’s nothing against Lando. Oscar put himself in the first two-thirds of the races in a better position,” Steiner added. “Now it’s ‘you go and win the World Championship’ because if they lose the Drivers’ World Championship now, I wouldn’t be happy. And then you have got two unhappy drivers, at least if you favour one, you’ve got only one unhappy driver…
“What I would do is I would say support Oscar to win the championship. Because they are coming close now. I mean, they had to race up to now, (but) now you need to support it. ‘We need to win the championship’. Last year they didn’t win it, the drivers’.”
Former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner (R) says it would make sense for McLaren to favour Oscar Piastri over teammate Lando Norris in the drivers’ world championship battle. Pic: Getty
However, McLaren boss Zak Brown confirmed in a recent interview with Bloomberg that the team would continue to let Piastri and Norris fight for the title. Brown shut down suggestions that either McLaren driver would be favoured over the other, and said the team would give them equal opportunities to prove who the best driver is in 2025.
“We’d like to not play a role if at all possible, but you get into, you know, Lando had a mechanical issue and things can happen in safety cars and things of that nature,” Brown explained about how their approach could change race-to-race. “But I think our goal is to just set Lando and Oscar up to be competing for the championship down to Abu Dhabi and may the best driver win.”