Credits: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire and IMAGO / Jan Huebner |
L: Guenther Steiner R: Zak Brown

Having closed the gap to Red Bull to just eight points after the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren is now in a comfortable position to win the constructors’ championship in 2024. However, they have made no attempts whatsoever to prioritize Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the drivers’ championship and former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner believes that Zak Brown will come to regret it.

Steiner noted how incredibly rare it is for an F1 team to be able to fight for both championships in a single season. That is why, he thinks Brown should do everything in his power to make that happen even if they have to compromise Piastri for the rest of the season rather than burying the conversation behind ‘papaya rules‘ — which came up during the Italian GP chaos between the McLaren duo.

The Italian compared McLaren’s championship situation to having a chance of winning the lottery but refusing to buy the tickets because you are too lazy. “How many times in life can you win two championships in one season? So, in the moment when you’ve got the chance to win two championships — Constructors’ and Drivers’ — I think you just need to say whatever it is, even if one guy is unhappy,” Steiner explained on ‘The Red Flags Podcast’.

“You know, it’s like, ‘Oh, we have got the chance to hit the lottery [but] I’m not going to play it because I don’t really know if I should do it’.”

The papaya rules and McLaren’s hesitancy to prioritize Norris’ title challenge has been a big bone of contention for many. Many experts like Will Buxton stated that the Woking outfit may throw away the chance to win the drivers’ championship amid such indecision.

Before the race in Monza, Brown stated that they were happy for their drivers to race. Although, Steiner suggested that Brown should take some extreme measures to convince Piastri to help Norris in the fight against Max Verstappen.

Steiner would have Brown pay more money to Piastri

The Italian stated that if he were the team principal at McLaren he would have done everything to convince Piastri to help Norris including offering him more money or even promising him preference over the Briton for the next season.

 “In my opinion, whatever you need to do you do because these moments are not coming up often in Formula 1,” Steiner added.

However, it is easier said than done, particularly in Brown or Andrea Stella’s place because Piastri is managed by former Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, who famously didn’t like the role of being the second driver at Red Bull during Sebastian Vettel’s dominance from 2010 to 2013.

Besides, Piastri has been matching Norris’ pace on several occasions and The Race’s Samarth Kanal feels that McLaren prioritizing Norris over him may make the Aussie feel sidelined.

Moreover, the drivers’ championship gap between Norris and Verstappen — 62 points is not that close, certainly not as close as the constructors’ championship. Thus, it makes the team orders case even weaker from this perspective.