Lando Norris may have entered the F1 2025 season as a favorite for the title contender, but now, former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has advised him to “get in line” behind Oscar Piastri.

And that’s all because Piastri has managed to swoop into the championship lead thanks to his clear head.

Steiner advises Lando Norris to “get in line”

After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Guenther Steiner appeared on the Red Flags podcast to share his “w*nker of the week,” which was Lando Norris.

“The wanker of the week is Lando Norris,” he said. “Maybe there is an opportunity that makes him come back stronger.”

That was yet another weekend where Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri displayed a level head on his way to a comprehensive victory — one that Steiner thinks should signal it’s time for Norris to “get in line” behind Piastri.

“I saw it coming,” Steiner said.

“He’s so calm about things, so well behaved.  There is nothing which seems to unsettle him. If he finishes second, yeah, he’s not happy — but he’s not throwing the toys out, you know, it’s vey mature.

“That’s what I always said, because talent-wise, they’re equal; [Piastri] has just got that thing that he stays calm whatever happens.”

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“In the race, he showed what he’s able to do driving a car,” Steiner explained.

“He’s very good. But he makes his mistakes, and I think he knows himself. I mean, he was his biggest critic himself, you know, saying that he messed it up.

“Last year, he had the problems with the starts a few times, where it was like getting to him that he couldn’t start properly.

“Now he’s doing this, but I don’t know — at some stage, I think he will do better when he has got the pressure away, or maybe when he’s told to get in line.”

By that, Steiner means Norris should ‘get in line’ behind his teammate Oscar Piastri — or, that McLaren should start prioritizing the Australian driver over the British.

And that’s become particularly pressing considering how strong Max Verstappen can be despite struggling with his RB21.

“If Max is keeping doing what he’s doing at the moment, I think [McLaren] needs to tell one to get in line,” Steiner said.

“Otherwise, I was thinking, if McLaren can be, I would say, quite dominant — it’s not real dominance, because every time something gets in the way, if they’re not threatened by anybody else, I think Zak lets them go to the end.

“That’s my opinion. But if Max comes close, I think after the summer break, it will be, ‘Lando, get in line.’”

Part of Norris’ problem, Steiner has hypothesized, might have to do with the fact that his “inner circle” is lacking.

If Steiner was in charge, he would tell Norris “just to stay calm.

“As I’ve said a few times, it’s the only thing you can do. You cannot advise him how to drive, because he can drive.

“This has nothing to do with driving. This is just to do with controlling your nerves, your focus.”

But there’s no one around Norris to advise him.

“I don’t know the inner circles of Oscar, I don’t know the inner circles of Lando. But how do I see both of them?

“Oscar has got Mark Webber around, which, Mark has done it himself, won races. Who better you want to have?

“I don’t think he’s got anybody else, and he listens to this guy which has done it himself, which is a difference than to listen to someone which has never done Formula 1, which just tells you what you want to hear.

“And I don’t think Mark is the guy which tells you what you want to hear from him. He tells you his experience, and it’s credible, because he has done it. He won F1 races.

“But with Lando, I don’t see him with a lot of people around him. You know, his father is around, but I don’t think his father is the guy which tells him everything, what he does great, and just do more of the same. ”

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