Former Haas boss Günther Steiner questions Max Verstappen’s title chances and warns frustration could push him to leave Formula 1.
Günther Steiner expects a strong battle between the two McLaren drivers this year for the world championship. However, the former Haas team principal does not believe Max Verstappen will be in contention for the Formula 1 crown this season.
“I don’t think the season will be decided any time soon,” Steiner said. “I also think Max… I really don’t see him fighting for the championship. And the other two, I think Zak [Brown] lets them race. If there’s no one coming from behind, Zak lets them race, so I think that would be fantastic.”
The Italian believes Verstappen will have some good races, but that he will not achieve the consistency needed to be champion: “He will have ups and downs, but he’s not always there to win. But the McLarens are always there.”
“If you look at the races, they have never had a weak weekend. They’ve always been good. And sometimes Max is Super Max, and then he can beat them, but Super Max needs a good Red Bull. And the Red Bull… in Barcelona, for sure, it was not up to the level of the McLarens. It was quite far off.”
Steiner believes Verstappen could leave F1 if his frustration grows, whether from results or sanctions: “The start of the season wasn’t easy. There are phases where the car works well, especially in Suzuka.”
“The potential is there, but fundamentally, there are many problems. The car seems to work in many fast corners, but in Australia and Bahrain, the opposite happened. They need to analyse that and hope for an upgrade, after which Verstappen’s future will become clearer.”
“It could happen that he changes teams or leaves F1 if he says all of this is too stupid and over-regulated for him. Maybe he’ll come back at some point, but Verstappen must be taken seriously when he says he would retire if repeatedly subjected to excessive penalties.”
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