Guenther Steiner Urges Oscar Piastri to Quit McLaren if He Loses 2025 F1 Championship to Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri has failed to keep up with his winning pace in the final stages of the 2025 season. In what was supposed to be a year of easy championship victory for Piastri, he is now trailing the lead by 24 points. With every passing race, the Aussies’ winning chances are only degrading. As such, ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner advised the 24-year-old to quit racing for McLaren if he fails to win the driver’s title this year.

Since the beginning of the year, McLaren had refused to intervene between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with team orders. Both drivers were prepared to race each other hard. However, the team backtracked on their decision and asked drivers to swap places at the Italian GP following a botched pitstop for Norris. The same team turned a blind eye towards the Briton’s questionable tactics at the Singapore GP later.

As such, many people now accuse McLaren of having a British bias. Though Oscar Piastri clearly refuted such claims of there being a British bias within the team. Now, Guenther Steiner reckoned that if Piastri did not win the title with Woking, he had a good chance to join any other team on the grid. Steiner continued that the 24-year-old was a great driver and change might be good for him, as he could also easily adapt to the change in teams.

Especially if he doesn’t win the championship, I think he has got a good chance to get in any other good car, He’s a good driver and change sometimes is good. He’s young enough, he can adapt to it. He should and I think he will. That’s my opinion.

Guenther Steiner said on the Red Flags podcast.

Further, Guenther Steiner noted that Piastri needed to regroup himself over the winter break and come back stronger in the 2026 season. If the Aussie fails to do so after the break, he should definitely consider a change in teams. Regardless, Steiner was confident that Piastri could bounce back in terms of results and perform much better than he currently is.

He just needs to regroup over the winter and come back stronger than before. Otherwise, if he doesn’t come back stronger, I think the best for him is that he changes teams then. But he could come back because I still rate him highly.

Guenther Steiner added.

Guenther Steiner claims Oscar Piastri ‘will lose’ to Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has been one of the more consistent drivers since the beginning of the 2025 season. The Dutchman has kept up with results despite the mediocre performance in the Red Bull Challenger. As such, amid Verstappen’s undying pace, Guenther Steiner claimed that Oscar Piastri could even lose the runner-up position in the driver’s standings to the former.

Currently, Max Verstappen is adrift of the second spot by just 25 points. Guenther Steiner reckoned that if Oscar Piastri was already mentally destroyed, then he would surely lose the P2 finish to Verstappen. Steiner noted that the Dutchman was very motivated, as showcased by his meteoric rise from pitlane start to podium finish at the Brazil GP.

Why not? He continues to do it. If you say Oscar is now destroyed mentally, then Max will be ahead of him, absolutely. Max is motivated, as we’ve seen in Brazil. He didn’t give up after a crappy qualifying. He rolls his sleeves up and made it better and finished on the podium.

Guenther Steiner noted.

The 2025 season still has three races left before completion. Although it is hard for Oscar Piastri to gain all the lost points now, he still isn’t completely out of the battle. If he can make up for the problems up until now in the coming races, he can surely still cover the points gap. Hence, time will tell if the Aussie manages to close down on the point deficit to the forefront or not.

Read More: Lando Norris Refuses to Change His Mindset and Insists He ‘Will Do what he likes’

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