Source:REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
[Saba Sports News] Max Verstappen has shown formidable form with consecutive victories at the Italian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In the process, Verstappen reduced the points gap to Oscar Piastri to 69 points with seven races remaining. Regarding this, former Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner believes that, regardless of whether Lando Norris is considered McLaren’s “favorite,” he should be assigned a supporting role to help Piastri win the Drivers’ Championship. Although McLaren still has a strong chance of winning both championships, after such setbacks, Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have made a strong comeback, introducing the possibility of the Drivers’ Championship fight slipping away late in the season. Steiner expressed on a podcast that he had previously doubted whether Verstappen could secure a fifth consecutive title. However, unfortunately for Norris, Steiner believes that the ambitious Dutch driver is enough reason for McLaren to abandon their equal treatment of Norris and Piastri and place Norris in the second driver position. When asked if it seemed unreasonable for McLaren, after emphasizing fairness so much, to have their “team face” Norris play a supporting role, Steiner replied: “But it will happen. Because ultimately, you not only want to win the Constructors’ Championship, but also the Drivers’ Championship. You must know, the team is more important than the driver, and the driver, as I always say, not to belittle them, is just part of the team.”