Former Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner has backed McLaren to win both Formula 1 titles in 2025, but he has cautioned that it won’t be an “easy walk”.
The Woking-based squad were victorious in 2024, fending off a late bid for the Constructors’ Championship from Ferrari at the final race in Abu Dhabi last month.
But despite having clinched its first championship since 2008, McLaren fell short in the Drivers’ standings with Lando Norris as Max Verstappen retained the crown.
Unfortunately, Steiner got his predictions all wrong last season as he backed the British driver to win, leaving the 59-year-old keen to get it spot on this time round.
“I need to get it right then this time,” Steiner told GPblog.
“It will be very difficult to predict because I think the four teams will be very close, the four big teams.”
“My favourite for [the championship] on [the] performance side, I think it’s McLaren – they were very good last year.
“I think they earned a lot last year, they get prepared a lot better because they had time to regroup and to get prepared.”
“They’ve got a very strong driver line-up with the two of them [Norris and Oscar Piastri].
“They got a lot of confidence from last year which helps as well, so my favourite is them but it will not be an easy walk.
“If they make any mistakes or if they are undecisive, they will end up like last year.
“They need to be more confident of themselves [in terms of] what they can do.”
Steiner not ruling out an eighth title for Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has been capturing the attention of F1 fans this week as he begins his preparations with his new team Ferrari.
The seven-time World Champion will race alongside Charles Leclerc for his 19th season in the sport.
Steiner believes that Hamilton and Ferrari both have a good chance at glory this year.
“With Ferrari, you never know how good the car is,” he added.
“It’s always the biggest [question] but I think last year they went into and especially towards the end of the season, to have good development, to make right moves.
“They were very solid, very well organised, and Lewis [is] getting there.
“Everybody is on their toes and Fred [Vasseur] wants a world championship, so Lewis wants a world championship, the eighth.
“So I think they will be good as well.”
Leaving Mercedes after 12 seasons, Hamilton endured a rough season with the Silver Arrows in 2024 that was only lifted by the victory at his home race – a record ninth British Grand Prix win.
Speaking of the German marque’s chances in 2025, Steiner didn’t hold out much hope for the team.
“Last year, they had some races [that] were very good and some days [that] were very bad for Mercedes,” Steiner explained.
“Their driver line-up, I wouldn’t say the weakest one, the most unknown one.
“Because Kimi Antonelli, you need to give him the benefit of [the] doubt but obviously, he’s 18 years old, never raced in F1.”
Red Bull needs to ‘find their way again’
Liam Lawson will step up into the Red Bull seat for 2025 and the former Milton Keynes-based employee thinks having a rookie on its team makes the Austrian outfit weaker.
“I think Liam is still a rookie even if he drove some races last year [and] some races in ‘23,” he explained.
“This still makes him a rookie but they’ve got Max.
“Having Max helps you, In my opinion, he’s the guy with the biggest talent at the moment, so that helps.
“But the second driver is not on par with the second driver at Ferrari or McLaren.
“So they are still weaker there and with Red Bull, you just need to see if they find their way again after last year.
“I think the favourite is McLaren followed clearly by a Ferrari and then the other two for me, a little bit unknown.
“They could be very good, but they could not be.”
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