Guenther Steiner addresses claims of McLaren favoring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in Hungary

After the Hungarian GP, a section of the paddock questioned whether McLaren favored Lando Norris for providing him with a one-stop strategy that helped him win against Oscar Piastri's two-stopper, a theory dismissed by ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner. He shared how the papaya pit wall was fair to its drivers and rejected any biases of the team between the two drivers.

Norris made his debut with McLaren in 2019, while Piastri joined the party in 2023. Though initially the Briton appeared as the faster driver of the two, as the team supported the 25-year-old in his bid for his maiden drivers' title last year, the Aussie has assured himself heading into the summer break in 2025 that he wouldn't play second fiddle to his teammate this year around.

Moreover, Oscar Piastri is the championship leader on the drivers' front, with Norris trailing him by nine points. But, some people questioned McLaren's decision to give the Briton a "better" strategy at the Hungarian GP, despite him plummeting down the field on the opening lap, and with the 24-year-old having the track position.

However, Norris leapfrogging Piastri was made possible due to him being down the field, and him having the option to divert onto a one-stop strategy due to the Briton extending his first stint on the medium tires. Steiner doubled down on the team's management of the papaya battle in the current season, as he said on the Red Flags podcast:

"That's not true. I think they're very fair to both of them. I have never seen anything. I mean, I cannot see that they favor any of them." (51:04 onwards)

Meanwhile, a hair-raising moment took place on lap 69 of the 70-lap race, as Piastri tried to divebomb his teammate and narrowly missed clashing with him.

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Zak Brown opens up on McLaren's decision to allow Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to race without much limitation

Lando Norris (L), Zak Brown, and Oscar Piastri (R) after the F1 British Grand Prix 2025 - Source: Getty

Lando Norris has won three of the last four races, while Oscar Piastri has the most race victories so far this season, with six gold medals already under his belt. But, with the papaya duo having a battle for the race win almost every race weekend, McLaren risks having a repeat of the 2007 championship fallout.

Subsequently, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown admitted that he knows the pros and cons of letting his drivers race freely, as he said (via Motorsport.com):

"We know the risk of not throwing our weight behind one driver, but we will give Oscar and Lando equal opportunity to fight it out on track to win the drivers’ world championship. That’s exciting for us, and for the sport. We believe the benefits of racing this way far outweigh the consequences – despite the fact we know incidents can happen."

Meanwhile, the only limitation that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris seem to have while racing on the track is not to collide with each other, an instruction that has been radioed to the Aussie at the Austrian and Hungarian GP.