Guenther Steiner believes Oscar Piastri should stay at McLaren as he searches for a return to form. Image: XPB Images
The former Haas team principal previously suggested Piastri should consider leaving McLaren if he failed to recover from his late-season struggles during the 2025 championship battle.
Piastri ultimately lost the title to teammate Lando Norris by 13 points, but has endured an even more challenging campaign this year, failing to win a race and slipping down the drivers’ standings.
However, speaking to Speedcafe, Steiner said he now believes the Australian should remain with McLaren rather than seek opportunities elsewhere.
“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.”
Steiner’s latest assessment contrasts with comments he made on the Red Flags Podcast towards the end of last season, when Piastri’s championship hopes were fading following a difficult run of results.
At the time, Steiner suggested a change of team could be beneficial if the Australian was unable to regain his form.
“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.”
Almost a year later, Piastri is still searching for a return to the form that saw him lead the championship for much of 2025.
The 25-year-old has managed just two podium finishes this season and sits seventh in the drivers’ standings on 144 points.
His last victory came at the Dutch Grand Prix in August 2025, while his most recent podium was in Miami in May.
The Australian has now gone 14 consecutive races without a podium, his longest such streak since the first 15 races of his F1 career in 2023.
Piastri has struggled to extract consistent performance from McLaren’s MCL40, although he indicated ahead of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix that he was gradually making progress.
“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.
Despite those difficulties, Steiner believes Piastri’s situation is far from disastrous, particularly given the level of competition he faces from Norris.
“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.”
Steiner also pointed to the limited opportunities available at Formula 1’s leading teams as another reason for Piastri to remain at McLaren.
Rather than seeking an immediate change, he believes the Australian should concentrate on rediscovering his best form and overcoming Norris before considering his longer-term future.
“Obviously there are not many openings as well in big teams, in one of the big four,” he said.
“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.”
While acknowledging that Piastri’s performances have fallen short of last year’s standards, Steiner insisted there was no reason for the Australian to make a hasty decision about his career.
“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 said.
“He’s still young, so the biggest thing is not to panic now. There’s no need for panic.”
Formula 1 heads to Mexico this weekend for the Mexico City Grand Prix.