Günther Steiner has changed his mind about Max Verstappen’s title chances in the 2025 Formula 1 season. In the latest edition of The Red Flags podcast, the former Haas team boss explained that the Red Bull star remains a serious contender for the drivers’ title. And joked that McLaren could even help him with that.
“A few races ago I would have clearly said no, now I’m saying yes,” said Steiner. “And his best ally in the fight for the championship is McLaren.” With a grin he added, “The Papaya Rules are for Max.”
Steiner was alluding to McLaren’s team colors and Verstappen’s well-known “Orange Army”. The podcast hosts then joked that Verstappen’s fans were actually supporters of the team from Woking.
Steiner: Piastri lacks the support of the team
When asked about Oscar Piastri’s recent difficulties, especially after a mixed weekend in Mexico, Steiner was clear. The Australian is currently struggling and, in his opinion, McLaren is partly to blame.
“That wasn’t good enough to become world champion. He’s having a hard time at the moment and I don’t know exactly what’s going on. But one thing can be said: Oscar doesn’t get the support from the team that you need to win a championship,” said Steiner.
If you lose trust, you can no longer drive freely, he explained. “At the beginning of the season he had no pressure because he was number two in the team – unofficially, of course. Lando has been there longer, is older and more experienced. Oscar came up, won races, everything went well.”
Why Mexico wasn’t a yardstick
“Then came all these papaya rules. I don’t remember all of them, ‘let him pass’, ‘let him drive’, ‘let Max go’. In the end you lose a bit of self-confidence. In Mexico he just didn’t have a good run. If you start so far back, you have no chance,” analyzes Steiner.
Despite his criticism, Steiner warned against overstating Mexico’s results. Due to the special conditions on the high-speed circuit at high altitude, it is not possible to draw clear conclusions about the balance of power between Red Bull and McLaren.
“Mexico is a special track because of the altitude. That’s why you shouldn’t come to the conclusion that the Red Bull is suddenly no longer competitive,” he said. “You don’t develop a special car for Mexico because you have to install more cooling, which means you lose downforce.”
“Some teams cope with it better, others worse. But you can’t draw any definitive conclusions from that. I wouldn’t say that the Red Bull was better in Austin or worse in Mexico, I just don’t know,” said Steiner.