Featured Image Credit: Image: Getty
Topics:Ā Formula 1, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Guenther Steiner
Ben McAleer
Topics:Ā Formula 1, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Guenther Steiner
McLaren have been told what to do in the title battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Australian Piastri leads the way 336 points with teammate Norris in second place, 22 points off top spot.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is 63 points behind Piastri heading into the final stretch of the 2025 season and the 28-year-old is still in with an outside chance of successfully defending his crown.
McLaren clinched the Constructorsā Championship in Signapore earlier this month but are winless in their last three races with their lead at the top of the Driversā Championship starting to narrow.
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And Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes that McLaren should throw their weight behind Piastri in the F1 driversā title fight.
Initially reflecting on McLarenās Constructorsā Championship win in Singapore, Haas told the Red Flags podcast via RN365: āI would say first of all, a fantastic job.
āBut what they put on in Singapore was not a world championship show.
āThe car performance was good, but with the drivers at some stage, either you have rules or you don't have rules.
āPapaya rules, which nobody knows what they are, if they even exist, but you change them around and one day itās like this.ā
Verstappen is starting to close the gap in the Driversā Championship having outscored both McLaren drivers in the last three races, and Steiner has stated now is the time to prioritise one driver if they wish to avoid a late slip.
āEither you let them race or if you're getting worried to lose the world championship, you have to make the call,ā Steiner added.
āYou have to tell one guy, and obviously that one guy is Oscar in the moment because he has got more points than Lando.
āIām sorry, and it's nothing against Lando. Oscar put himself in the first two-thirds of the races in a better position.
āNow it's āyou go and win the world championshipā because if they lose the drivers' world championship now, I wouldn't be happy.
āAnd then you have got two unhappy drivers, at least if you favour one, you've got only one unhappy driver.ā
The next four races take place in the Americas, with the US, Mexico, Brazil and Las Vegas grand prix all looming.
The season then ends in the Middle East, as the teams travel to Qatar before the season ends in Abu Dhabi in December.