Guenther Steiner outlines the ‘nasty’ risk Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri must take in 2025 title fight

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Oscar Piastri has swung the momentum back in his favour for the 2025 Formula 1 championship after winning the Dutch Grand Prix.

Piastri achieved a Grand Slam at Zandvoort as he dominated the field to claim his seventh win of the season. McLaren teammate Lando Norris looked set to finish second until a rare mechanical failure forced him to retire.

The Brit had been nine points behind Piastri coming into the Dutch Grand Prix after winning three of the last four races. He is now 34 points adrift heading into Monza, with his DNF at Zandvoort proving costly.

Piastri gained a ‘massive psychological’ advantage over Norris by beating him to pole position by just 12 thousandths of a second. This would have been heightened by his retirement, especially after the Dutch crowd had an ‘insulting’ reaction to Norris’ DNF as they cheered in the grandstands.

McLaren had ‘never’ seen Norris’ issue before as it was determined that an oil fitting had broken. He will be determined to put that behind him at Monza as Piastri pulls further away in the standings.

Guenther Steiner tells Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri they must risk their friendship in the 2025 title fight

The McLaren duo have not shied away from their desire to fight one another for the championship. Despite being title rivals, Norris and Piastri are known to have a great relationship on and off the track.

But Guenther Steiner wants to see them be more ruthless and ‘nasty’ in the final few races. Speaking via GPblog Nederland, the former Haas boss wants to see the pair risk their friendship to win the championship.

“The thing is like: ‘Oh they get on very well’. I cannot see getting on very well: ‘If you take my world championship away, I hate you!” he said.

“They are friends, which is a good thing, to be friends in a team, it’s fantastic. But if you really want to win, guess how many opportunities, I always think, you’ve got to win a world championship?

“There’s not many in life, life is pretty short. And when you’ve got the opportunity, you need to risk, as nasty as it sounds, you need to risk to lose a friend, because sometimes you can get a friend back.

“Time heals a lot of things, but in the moment, I want to win this world championship and I think Lando is just like: ‘Yeah, he’s my buddy, I’m going to fight him.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

What McLaren have decided for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the final races of 2025

With 34 points separating the drivers, many have wondered what the Woking-based outfit will do in terms of team orders for the final nine races.

McLaren will give equal opportunities to Piastri and Norris for the rest of the season. They have reiterated several times that they will have the freedom to fight, and that will not change so long as they both have the chance to win the championship.

Max Verstappen has told Norris to work hard if he wants to beat Piastri. His DNF at the Dutch GP was out of his control and he cannot afford to dwell on it as his teammate pulls away.

Damon Hill thinks Piastri is ‘odds on’ favourite for the championship. He is proving to be tough to beat on the track and he will want to maintain his dominance at Monza.