In the brutal, high-stakes crucible of Formula 1, advice is currency, but it is not every day that a driver seated in a championship-contending car is publicly advised to pack his bags and consider an exit. Yet, this is the astonishing, pressure-cooker situation that Oscar Piastri, McLaren’s prodigious young talent, finds himself in. Former Haas team principal Gwentthin Steiner has thrown a verbal hand grenade into the ongoing season, publicly suggesting that if Piastri fails to clinch the World Championship, it might be in his “best interest to look for a seat elsewhere”.
This blunt, almost shocking declaration has ignited a furious debate among F1 fans and veteran analysts alike. It shines a harsh spotlight on Piastri’s recent, dramatic dip in form, the crushing reality of an intense intra-team title fight against his teammate Lando Norris, and the almost impossible pressure that comes with being an F1 frontrunner. The context of Steiner’s bombshell advice is a championship battle that has seen one of the most remarkable and painful reversals of fortune in recent memory, where a seemingly insurmountable lead has evaporated into a worrying deficit.
The Great F1 Reversal: How a 34-Point Lead Became a 24-Point Deficit
Following a dominant period of early season form, the narrative surrounding the McLaren garage was one of Australian dominance. Oscar Piastri was not just leading the championship; he was commanding it. With seven race wins and 13 podiums secured in the early part of the season, he held a significant 34-point advantage over Lando Norris and appeared to be the clear, unstoppable favourite to claim his maiden World Championship. The young Australian was riding a wave of confidence and performance that seemed destined to carry him to the title.
But motor racing, particularly at the pinnacle of F1, is defined by momentum, and momentum is a fickle beast. Since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Piastri’s star has dimmed, replaced by a painful, sustained podium drought. This sudden, devastating slump has seen his championship lead not only vanish but mutate into a sizeable 24-point deficit to his now-dominant teammate, Norris.
This dramatic turnaround has been a compounding nightmare for Piastri, a perfect storm of incidents, controversial team decisions, and a palpable lack of pace compared to Norris. The sequence of setbacks began at Monza, where a highly controversial team order saw him forced to cede second place to Norris, an incident that Piastri later conceded was “not the most helpful”. This was followed by a disastrous weekend in Azerbaijan, which included crashes in both qualifying and the race itself. The pain continued with a first-lap tangle with Norris in Singapore, a costly shunt in the Austin sprint race, and another incident in the Brazil sprint. Most recently, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he was penalised for causing a collision and finished a disappointing fifth, while Norris sailed to a dominating victory, winning both the sprint and the main race.
The Steiner Bombshell: A Call for Exile and a Fresh Start
It is this sequence of poor results—a catastrophic shift in form for a driver who had previously been flawless—that prompted Gwentthin Steiner’s startling public intervention. Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner, known for his direct and often brutally honest assessments, suggested that a change of scenery could be the essential corrective for the young Australian should he fail to clinch the title.
“If he doesn’t win the championship, I think he has got a good chance to get in any other good car,” Steiner stated. “He’s a good driver and change sometimes is good. He’s young enough, he can adapt to it.” The underlying logic of this advice is that sometimes, a complete reset in a fresh environment can allow a driver to shed the crushing burden of expectation and rediscover their peak form, free from the shadow of a teammate who currently holds the upper hand. Steiner doubled down on his advice with an even stronger call: “Otherwise, if he doesn’t come back stronger, I think the best for him is that he changes teams then”.
The advice is, by conventional F1 standards, counterintuitive, even shocking. Piastri currently occupies what is arguably the most coveted seat on the grid—a drive in a championship-winning car—and is secured by a recently signed long-term contract. The established wisdom dictates that a driver must secure and retain the fastest car possible, making the suggestion of leaving McLaren seem like a moment of madness to many.
Brundle’s Five Factors: Dissecting the Slump
Steiner is not alone in his analysis, though his proposed solution is radical. Veteran F1 commentator Martin Brundle has also meticulously analysed Piastri’s recent struggles, identifying five key factors that he believes have converged to create this devastating slump. Writing in his column for Sky Sports, Brundle pinpointed: 1) Oscar’s head, suggesting a mental component to the pressure; 2) just a sporting run of bad luck; 3) a setup problem with the car; 4) a series of tracks which don’t suit him so well; and crucially, 5) Lando Norris.
Brundle argues that the slump is likely a poisonous combination of all these factors, all occurring at the precise moment that his teammate, Lando Norris, found “an extra gear of speed and confidence”. This diagnosis aligns with Piastri’s own, candid self-reflection.
The Australian himself has openly acknowledged the difficulty of the period, pointing to the Monza race and the ensuing fallout as a critical turning point. He admitted that Monza wasn’t his best performance, and the team orders incident was emotionally difficult. However, it was the following race in Azerbaijan that he described as “the worst weekend I’ve ever had in racing,” but also, with a remarkable level of maturity, “the most useful in some ways”. This self-reflective approach hints at a deep well of character, suggesting that he is using his most difficult moments as essential learning opportunities.
Another crucial detail that emerged from Piastri’s comments is the suggestion that recent car updates may have inadvertently created a structural disadvantage for him. He mentioned having to drive the car in a “different style” in the last few races, a clear signal that the team’s evolution has potentially suited Norris’s natural driving technique more than his own. This is a common, often unavoidable, challenge in F1, where the car’s development trajectory can accidentally favour one driver, forcing the other to adapt or risk being left behind.
The Great Gamble: Why Staying Might Be the Only Option
Steiner’s advice, while generating headlines, has been met with significant scepticism from many in the F1 community. The risk involved in leaving a championship-winning team—a rare and precious commodity in Formula 1—is immense. There is absolutely no guarantee that a seat would become available at a rival top-tier team like Ferrari or Red Bull, or, crucially, that their car would be as consistently competitive as the McLaren.
The history of F1 is littered with cautionary tales of supremely talented drivers who made the wrong move at the wrong time, forever costing them their chance at a World Championship. For Piastri, abandoning McLaren now, despite the temporary slump, would be a monumental gamble. The common, and arguably wiser, view is that he should remain where he is and work relentlessly to fight back and reclaim his position as the team’s leading driver. He has already proven he possesses the sheer, raw talent to beat Norris; the current challenge is one of consistency, adaptation, and mental resilience.
The uncertainty of the future only complicates any potential decision. Formula 1 is on the cusp of a major shift, with new technical regulations set to be introduced for the 2026 season. These changes are designed to shake up the competitive order, meaning that teams currently strong may falter, and those currently struggling may suddenly find themselves at the front. If Piastri were to leave, he would be betting his entire career on the hope that another team has done a better job of preparing for those regulations. Given McLaren’s robust technical department and their proven ability to rapidly improve a car, staying put could very well be the safest bet for his long-term ambition.
The Path to Redemption: A Handful of Races to Prove His Character
While the championship mathematics look grim—Norris needs only three second-place finishes to secure the title, regardless of what Piastri does—the title is not yet mathematically decided. The reality is that Piastri faces enormous pressure: he must win the upcoming races and rely on his teammate encountering misfortune. Yet, a single twist of fate, such as a DNF for Norris coupled with a Piastri victory, would completely flip the standings, putting the Australian ahead by a solitary point.
The upcoming races are, therefore, about far more than the 2025 title; they are about proving the mental fortitude that is the hallmark of a true champion. As Martin Brundle noted, momentum in F1 can swing in the blink of an eye. A strong end to the season, even without the championship trophy, would provide an indispensable confidence injection heading into the break and the following season.
Ultimately, Steiner’s advice, though sensational and attention-grabbing, appears premature. Oscar Piastri is a world-class talent driving for a world-class team. His current struggles are an unavoidable part of the learning curve for any young driver, regardless of how successful they have been. The true measure of his character, and the factor that will ultimately decide his career trajectory, is how he responds to this profound adversity. If he can overcome this slump, adapt to the car’s current evolution, and bounce back to challenge Lando Norris for supremacy, he will have proven that he possesses every quality required to be a future World Champion, whether that title comes this year or in the seasons to follow. Leaving the team now would be a monumental, career-defining gamble—and one that he must be strongly advised against taking. The fight for his place and his destiny must happen right where he is, at McLaren.
