McLaren shifting focus to Oscar Piastri? Ex-F1 team boss warns Lando Norris could be told to step aside. Gunther Steiner hints McLaren may prioritize Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris.

The remainder of the 2025 Formula 1 season is highly uncertain, especially at McLaren, which may have to decide whether to back Norris or Piastri: the view of a former Team Principal.

The 2025 Formula 1 season was expected to be one of the most competitive in recent years, yet from the first day of testing one team emerged clearly stronger than the rest. Still, the situation is far from the kind of dominance seen with Red Bull in 2023. The number 4 McLaren of Norris has become the team’s weak point—will all the focus now shift to Oscar Piastri?

Given how the 2024 championship ended, expectations weren’t drastically different. What came out of Woking was a real gem: the MCL39—perfectly balanced, incredibly stable, and with exceptional tyre management. This project has allowed Zak Brown’s team to win four out of the five races held so far.

However, aside from the latter part of the Chinese weekend and the Bahrain GP, we haven’t really seen a true dominance. In Australia, Norris did secure his first win of the season, but he was closely shadowed the entire race by Max Verstappen, who remained unfazed by the challenging conditions.

At Suzuka came perhaps the lowest point for the papaya team. On a circuit that should have highlighted the car’s strengths, both Norris and Piastri were beaten in qualifying by the world champion and couldn’t mount a challenge in the race. Then came the last Grand Prix in Jeddah, where Piastri delivered an outstanding weekend performance and, despite not starting from pole, managed to beat everyone.

And on the other side of the garage? Things look quite different in car number 4. In both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Norris made serious mistakes in the final qualifying sessions, which left him starting from the back. At Jeddah, despite having a superior car, he failed to overtake Charles Leclerc in the closing stages of the race.

How will McLaren handle the rest of 2025? Will they begin backing Piastri completely, or will they continue to nurture Lando Norris too? Gunther Steiner shared his view on the Red Flags podcast. “I admit it’s still too early to give a definitive answer. But if Max keeps going at this pace, closing in dangerously on the top two in the championship, I believe McLaren will have to tell someone to fall in line.”

“I think that if they’re running up front without anyone threatening them, they’ll be allowed to race freely. But if Verstappen keeps getting closer, after the summer break we’ll hear, ‘Lando, get behind.’”