Guenther Steiner puzzled by McLaren duo's “very weird” F1 form switch
Guenther Steiner cannot understand how the script has flipped in the intra-team F1 title battle at McLaren.
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says he has “never seen anything like” the contrasting form switch between McLaren’s drivers in the F1 title race.
The battle for world championship glory has taken a major twist in recent months, with Lando Norris’s sensational run of form enabling him to turn what was a 34-point deficit after the Dutch Grand Prix six races ago into a 24-point advantage over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
While Norris has hit a purple patch of form, claiming four consecutive podiums and back-to-back victories in Mexico City and Brazil, Piastri’s performances have dramatically nosedived and been littered by uncharacteristic mistakes.
Asked if he can recall another driver who has been able to flip the script around like Norris has in 2025, Steiner told The Red Flags podcast: “No, and the strange thing here is the switch between Oscar and Lando.
“What Oscar did until five races ago, now Lando is doing. It’s the complete opposite. It’s like they said ‘let’s switch roles now’. It’s very weird, I’ve never seen anything like this and I didn’t expect it. I don’t think many people expected it.”
Steiner backs Norris for F1 title glory
Steiner has tipped Norris to continue his momentum and go on to be crowned world champion, and he believes the Briton will go from strength to strength.
“For Lando, becoming world champion, obviously it puts you in a different bracket of drivers, if you won a world championship. That’s where he will be and I think his confidence will be very high,” Steiner explained.
“What does it do for McLaren? For next year, we don’t know who is where next year with the regulations, but for sure it proves them right what they did, that they didn’t interfere with the championship battle. They can go away with that one and I think they will milk that one if it happens.
“I think the winner will be Lando and he will be in that bracket of drivers’ which are world champions and he fought for it. Everybody had written him off to win this championship and now he came back. That makes you even better. It wasn’t an easy win.”
On what Piastri would need to do if he misses out on the title this year, Steiner added: “If that happens, he just needs to regroup over the winter and come back stronger than before. But he could come back, because I still rate him highly.”
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