Guenther Steiner suggests Max Verstappen ‘solution’ to solve Ferrari woes
Guenther Steiner suggests a possible solution to Ferrari's F1 woes.
Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested that Max Verstappen might be better suited to Ferrari than Lewis Hamilton.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton joined Ferrari in 2025 with the aim of turning the Italian outfit’s fortunes around and returning it to its former F1 glory days after a near two-decade title drought.
Hamilton impressively bounced back from a hugely disappointing debut season with Ferrari and has been leading the Maranello squad’s charge during a much more competitive 2026 campaign.
Ferrari’s intra-team dynamics has become a major talking point after a series of clashes between Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc, leading to wider debate about whether the team can become serious title challengers.
Steiner has made the suggestion that Verstappen could be the driver to successfully take charge of the team, similar to what Michael Schumacher did during Ferrari’s dominance of F1 in the early 2000s.
“But is he the guy who can make the team win?" Steiner said of Hamilton on The Red Flags Podcast. "When strong drivers took over, they made it a success, but Fernando Alonso tried. Did he succeed? No. Do you think Lewis is the right guy to make this happen?”
When asked whether Verstappen might be better suited to the role, Steiner replied: "You know how Max is. He wouldn't stop. He's relentless. That could be the solution.”
However, co-host Brain Muller was quick to point out: "Well, they're not getting Max anytime soon.
“So, what they have is Lewis, and if they're not ready to drop things when you have a seven-time world champion who's ready to make Ferrari great again, and you're not ready to jump on that when it's time, then you've got bigger problems."
Steiner’s comments echo former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher’s take. The German pundit recently questioned Hamilton’s ability to lead a team.
"Hamilton never learned how to lead a team, not under Toto Wolff and not under Ron Dennis," Schumacher said on Sky Sports Germany’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast. "That was never his job anyway. He just had to get in the car and drive as fast as possible.
"I think you can see that, and I think it's made him quite egotistical as well."
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