Oscar Piastri Would’ve Never Passed Max Verstappen if McLaren Swapped Him With Lando Norris: Guenther Steiner

After dominating the three practice sessions, McLaren faced a surprise onslaught from Max Verstappen during qualifying in Japan. The Dutchman, thanks to a low downforce setup, surprised everyone by clinching pole position ahead of Lando Norris in P2. Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, was right behind in P3.

The trio finished the race in the same order, as Verstappen never allowed the McLaren duo in his DRS range. There is, however, a section of fans who believe Piastri could have caught the Red Bull driver if McLaren had ordered Norris to let him pass.

The assumption rests on the final stint, where the Aussie looked quicker than his teammate. Despite the pace, Piastri failed to overtake Norris. As a result, he never got the chance to mount an attack on Verstappen.

That attempt, per former Haas boss Guenther Steiner, would have been a futile exercise, even if Norris allowed Piastri past.

“So in swapping, yeah, the swapping would have worked, but Oscar could have never passed Lando on his own, you know. But then you get to Max. Why do you think he could pass Max? I think it was just like, it was what it was,” Steiner said on The Red Flags Podcast.

The 60-year-old also defended Norris against the criticism that he drove too conservatively, as he believes that the Briton never had the pace to attack Verstappen.

However, when Norris got the only chance to get past the race leader during the pit exit, he did take a shot. That is when Norris went onto the grass and attempted to convince the stewards that Verstappen pushed him wide.

Steiner calls out Norris’ bluff in reporting Verstappen

In an otherwise ‘snoozer’ of a race, the pit exit incident between Norris and Verstappen was arguably the only exciting incident. The #4 driver promptly reached out to his team on the radio, complaining about being pushed off the track. While the stewards ruled in Verstappen’s favor, Steiner does not blame Norris for trying.

“He was trying it on. He knew it will not get legs, but you try it. I mean, what have you got to lose? It’s a comment you make. It doesn’t cost anything. If it isn’t, there’s no negatives to it, you know,” Steiner said.

Should Norris instead have tried to stick behind Verstappen to get a slipstream and attack later? Steiner believes it was as good an option as the one he chose by going on the inside and landing on the grass. The team principal-turned-expert attributes all these alternative theories to hindsight.