Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes that McLaren will move Lando Norris into a support driver role to focus on supporting Oscar Piastri for the drivers’ championship.
Piastri currently leads the drivers’ standings with a 25-point gap to Norris in second. After a difficult weekend in Azerbaijan for the Woking outfit, race winner Max Verstappen is closing in on the two McLaren drivers.
Verstappen’s win in Baku marked back-to-back victories for the Dutchman as he looks to bounce back after earlier struggles in the season. Following the race, McLaren chief Andrea Stella confirmed that the four-time champion is most definitely still a threat to the drivers’ championship. Verstappen currently sits third in the standings, 44 points behind Norris.
As a result, Steiner argued that the team will need to back one driver to protect the title, something the team has not done up to this point.
“But it will happen,” Steiner explained on The Red Flags Podcast. “Because in the end, you want to win the drivers’ championship as well, not only the constructors’. And the team is more important than the driver, and the drivers are, as I always say, and not diminishing, just part of a team.
“And both cannot win, so instead of having two fighting and lose it all, you get somebody to win. As much as Lando is the face, and, as you put it, the favoured son, I think McLaren needs to be above that, and will be above that.”
He added: “It is crazy, but you have to do it. In my opinion, you have to do it to win.
Lando Norris, McLaren,Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Erik Junius
“I think they will take the decision… because otherwise, if they lose it because of that decision, how dumb do they look?”
McLaren introduced ‘Papaya Rules’, which allow the drivers to race freely, so long as they keep it clean.
“I want to say, I think McLaren should have learned something out of last year, how they did it. It didn’t work,” Steiner continued. “And if they do the same this year… Up to now, it was like, OK, Max is not a threat anyway. It looks good if you let them race. And it’s good, actually. It not only looks good, it’s good for the people who watch it.
“But now, it’s getting to a point where there could be some damage to the team in losing the drivers’ championship. So if you run the team, you have to prevent this by putting a rule down to make somebody unhappy. And so it should be.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown confirmed during an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July that the team would continue to let them race.
“We’re letting them go. It’s up to them to decide who wins the world championship,” Brown said.
“I hope it’s one of the two. I think we need to extend our lead a little bit more before we get comfortable.
“But you’re never quite comfortable in this sport and just let them keep racing. I thought Austria was a great demonstration of how hard they can race each other and cleanly.”
