As the Singapore GP saw McLaren wrap up the F1 Constructors’ Championship with six rounds to spare, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner urged the Woking-based squad to back Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris for the Drivers’ title.
With McLaren setting themselves apart from the competition, Piastri and Norris have been engaged in a two-way battle for the title since the beginning of the 2025 campaign. However, the ten-time world champions have become the topic of several controversies as they opted to strictly enforce the infamous ‘Papaya Rules’ this season.
Piastri has led the championship from Round 2 onwards, warding off the challenge from Norris. Although they have mostly complied with McLaren’s ‘team first’ principles, tension has clearly been brewing between the closely matched teammates.
The most recent tussle came at the Singapore GP, where Norris and Piastri crossed the line in third and fourth, respectively. The 25-year-old made contact and muscled his way past the Australian to take third place on the opening lap, a position he held until the chequered flag.
Despite losing some ground in the last three races, Norris’s car failure in Zandvoort still provides a decent buffer for Piastri, who maintains a lead of 22 points in the standings. However, with six rounds to go, the Brit can still overturn the deficit and clinch his maiden F1 Drivers’ title.
Steiner condemns ‘Papaya Rules’
Speaking on the Red Flags Podcast after the Singapore GP, Haas F1’s ex-team principal congratulated the Woking outfit on securing back-to-back Constructors’ titles.
Referring to the heated Drivers’ Championship battle between Piastri and Norris, Guenther Steiner was also rather critical of the lack of clarity and consistency when it comes to the internal policies McLaren have established regarding intra-team rivalry.
“I would say first of all, a fantastic job. But what they [McLaren] put on in Singapore, the show was not a world championship show.
“I mean, obviously, the car performance was good but with the drivers at some stage, either you have rules or you don’t have rules. Papaya rules, which nobody knows what they are, if they even exist, but you change them around and one day is like this.”
Steiner backs Piastri in 2025 Drivers’ Championship
While it’s convenient for McLaren to let the teammates battle it out until the season finale, Max Verstappen might still emerge as a persistent thorn in their side. Since the Dutch GP, the Dutchman has secured two victories and a podium in Singapore.
Red Bull introduced a major upgrade package at Monza, and the improvements to the RB21 have allowed the four-time world champion to make inroads in the McLaren duo’s considerable lead recently. Although the prospect of surmounting a 63-point gap is pretty slim, the Woking-based team cannot discount the chances of a Verstappen comeback.
Guenther Steiner maintained that McLaren, having already won the Constructors’ title, need to fully support one driver for the Drivers’ crown in order to neutralise the threat of Verstappen.
With one driver bound to lose the Drivers’ Championship, Steiner remarked that McLaren cannot make both Piastri and Norris content at the same time. Therefore, he insisted that the British team should immediately put all their eggs in the basket of the Australian, who has so far been the better driver overall between the two.
“Either you let them race or if you’re getting worried to lose the world championship, you have to make the call. You have to tell one guy, and obviously that one guy is Oscar [Piastri] in the moment because he has got more points than Lando [Norris].
“I’m sorry, and it’s nothing against Lando. Oscar put himself in the first I don’t know two-thirds of the races in a better position.
“Now it’s ‘you go and win the world championship’ because if they lose the Drivers’ World Championship now, I wouldn’t be happy. And then you have got two unhappy drivers, at least if you favour one, you’ve got only one unhappy driver.”
McLaren policies have made racing a “calculation”
McLaren have allowed Piastri and Norris to race each other throughout the season as long as they keep their battles clean. However, they have refused to select a number-one driver and have intervened multiple times to try and keep the competition fair. Guenther Steiner argued that this has made racing artificial and a “calculation”.
“When Lando had the engine failure, why was that not taken into account? But Lando had a pit or two pit stop problems and all that stuff. So it’s becoming a calculation. It’s not racing anymore. And they took the racing element almost out of it.”
Piastri was left aggrieved when Norris, his primary title challenger and teammate, caused the two cars to collide during a Lap 1 overtake at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The stewards didn’t investigate any further, and McLaren turned down the Australian’s radio request for the team to step in and take action against the Brit.
Asked if he considered Norris’s move too aggressive, Steiner commented: “No, I don’t think so. It was at the start. It was hard racing. But obviously Oscar’s question came because of the past decisions which are taken before.”
