Steiner flips the script: McLaren are Verstappen’s unlikely title ally
A few races ago, Guenther Steiner had Max Verstappen boxed out of the 2025 championship conversation. Now? He’s calling the Red Bull driver his favourite for the crown — and pointing the finger at McLaren as the reason why.
Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, the former Haas team boss — and ex-Red Bull man — said the way McLaren have kept both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the fight is playing straight into Verstappen’s hands. “His best ally to win this championship is McLaren,” Steiner said, suggesting the team’s open-book policy between its drivers has become a gift to the guy in blue.
It’s the quirky inversion of this season. McLaren built a rocket ship and set the tone early; the Constructors’ race has been as comfortable as you like. But on the drivers’ side, the papaya pair have been allowed to go toe-to-toe. There’s logic in that — both have been consistently brilliant, both deserved a fair swing — yet it’s created the sort of internal tug-of-war that a metronome like Verstappen thrives on.
Steiner’s argument is simple: when Norris and Piastri trade wins, poles or fastest laps, they split the heavy points. If one has a messy Sunday, the other collects — but neither builds the kind of runway you need when Max is out there cashing podiums for sport. “Max normally brings it home, pretty solid,” Steiner said. “If he doesn’t win or finish second, he’s third.” It’s the same relentless beat that defined his last four titles: minimal drama, maximal haul.
And this year, Verstappen’s toolbox looks a touch different. The outright dominance of 2023–24 hasn’t been his to wield, so he’s leaned into control. Mexico was the latest case study: a game of percentages rather than elbows, and very little appetite for kamikaze lunges that risk zero points. Steiner again: a younger Max might have tried something unnecessarily brave; this one knows the title is a marathon over five stints, not a single late-braking move into Turn 1.
You can see why this is awkward for McLaren. Call team orders too early and you risk splitting the garage and spooking the paddock narrative — especially when both drivers have earned their shot. Leave it late and there simply isn’t the runway to convert one into a clear spearhead. Right now, McLaren’s best two assets are also each other’s biggest headaches. That’s not a flaw in strategy so much as a by-product of how well both have driven.
The counterpoint is obvious: if McLaren keep their Sundays tidy, nobody can touch them. The car’s quick on Saturdays and malleable on Sundays, and between Norris’s rhythm and Piastri’s clinical racecraft, they’re rarely out of position. But title runs rarely stay tidy. Safety cars fall awkwardly. Pit windows close as fast as they open. And when the margins tighten, the one driver not fighting his teammate tends to look very comfortable indeed.
Red Bull, for their part, have quietly inched the RB21 into a better operating window. The raw peak still belongs to McLaren more often than not, but Verstappen’s camp has done enough to keep him welded into the lead pack, ready to hoover up whatever falls from the papaya table. He’s not winning this with shock-and-awe; he’s trying to win it the old-fashioned way: relentless execution.
So, is Steiner right? If McLaren stay egalitarian to the final flag, the arithmetic does lean Verstappen’s way. Not because Norris or Piastri lack the speed or the steel — both have shown plenty — but because sharing the top step is sometimes the same as giving it away to a third party. Champions are often made by the moments when teams choose ruthlessness over romance.
There’s also the mood music. Verstappen’s camp has been notably calm of late, even on weekends that didn’t suit the RB21. The body language is that of a group who know what matters: bank the points, keep the powder dry, and let the politics happen elsewhere. That’s a dangerous place for everyone else.
None of which guarantees a Max walk-off. One clean weekend from either Norris or Piastri can flip the temperature of this fight. If a natural number one emerges on pace and form — not boardroom decree — McLaren can change the trajectory quickly. But every race they spend balancing the equation between two drivers, Verstappen gets to be the constant.
Steiner’s take has the blunt edge he’s known for, but it isn’t wrong. McLaren’s biggest strength is also Verstappen’s best hope. And in a season where the margins are this tight, clarity — not just speed — is often what decides the silverware.
The run-in’s about to test philosophies as much as pace. McLaren believe in letting the boys race. Red Bull believe in letting Max be Max. We’re about to find out which belief system travels better under pressure.
