Guenther Steiner picks F1 champ - it's not Max Verstappen or Lando Norris

Guenther Steiner says he would be betting on Oscar Piastri for the 2025 Formula 1 title following his victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.

McLaren driver Piastri had the measure of his teammate Lando Norris throughout the Shanghai F1 race, leading from start to finish to take a dominant 10-second victory.

It was an impressive comeback from the 23-year-old, who crashed from second place in the Australian Grand Prix after being caught out by a sudden shower at the Albert Park Circuit.

Piastri and Norris are expected to be the primary contenders in this year’s title battle, with the MCL39 emerging as the early-season benchmark.

Norris is the more experienced of the duo and put up a valiant fight against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen last year, while Piastri is now in his third season in F1 and hence mature enough to mount a championship challenge.

Former Haas F1 boss Steiner believes the Shanghai weekend showed that Piastri is now one step ahead of Norris in dry conditions, with the Australian the title favourite in his eyes.

Oscar Piastri named above Lando Norris

“I think at the moment Oscar has got the edge. In China he showed that he has got the edge. All the time he was better,” Steiner told The Red Flag Podcast.

“If I would have to put my money now on the world champion, I would put it on Oscar.

“When you saw him speaking after the pole position in qualifying, he seemed to be pretty upbeat - normally he doesn't speak a lot.

“You can really see he is enjoying it and I think he wants more of it because he enjoyed that quite a bit. I think he is in a good position now.”

Having won its first constructors’ title in over two decades last year, McLaren has also started the new season with the fastest F1 car of all 10 teams.

The Woking-based squad has already built a sizeable 21-point lead over Mercedes in the constructors’ championship after the opening two rounds of the year.

However, Steiner downplayed the extent of McLaren’s advantage in 2025, saying its rivals are close enough in the pecking order to pounce on any errors.

He cited the sprint race at Shanghai, where Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was able to score a shock win from pole position on a relatively difficult day for McLaren.
 
“I wouldn't say nobody can compete [with McLaren],” said Steiner.

“It's not as easy as it looks like because you saw in the sprint, if they are not doing a perfect job they still lose.

“They cannot make mistakes because there is always somebody waiting there to take it away from them.

“If they do a perfect job, I think they are the team to beat. Yes, they had a good distance to other cars, but it's not like they lapped them or anything.”