Guenther Steiner snubs Lewis Hamilton for 24-podium driver as he names Formula 1 dream team

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Lewis Hamilton will still regard himself as the best driver in Formula 1 even though he’s no longer a regular winner. He’ll feel he merits that tag on the back of seven world championships and a record-breaking 105 race victories.

Hamilton has won twice this year, ending a two-and-a-half-year drought on home soil at Silverstone with a masterful drive and then inheriting top spot in Belgium following George Russell’s disqualification. That leaves him sixth in the championship with 174 points.

He’s scored at least five podiums every single season since his 2007 debut, but only has four to his name this year. Based on his recent results (P8, P5, P9, P6 since the summer break), he may not add to his tally before the season, and his Mercedes career, is over.

Much of this is down to the limitations of his car – teammate Russell only has three podiums – but he’s struggled to extract the most from it in qualifying. Russell sealed the head-to-head in Azerbaijan with seven races to spare and currently leads 13-5.

It’s those Saturday struggles above all that have led some to suggest Hamilton is past his best. Despite his incomparable statistics, he’s no longer an automatic inclusion in an F1 dream team.

Max Verstappen would likely receive more votes at this stage. Verstappen has won the last three world titles and is on course to make it four in a row, with a 52-point lead over Lando Norris heading into the final six rounds.

Guenther Steiner picks Lando Norris over Lewis Hamilton in dream F1 line-up

Speaking on the Pitstop podcast, former Haas boss Guenther Steiner made his picks. On current form, he chose Verstappen and Norris.

Norris has joined the winners’ circle this year, having followed up a maiden triumph in Miami with victories in the Netherlands and Singapore. He’s also notched five poles (and six overall) and is now just one short of reaching 25 podiums.

Steiner selected Norris’ McLaren partner Oscar Piastri as his reserve driver. The second youngest on the grid after Franco Colapinto, he sits 42 points behind his teammate in the standings.

“It’s always difficult to say with drivers because there’s different eras,” he said. “Let’s say we have the current drivers, I would put Max and Lando at the moment. I would take Adrian [Newey] if I can afford him and put James Allison beside him. Reserve driver? I would get Oscar.”

Guenther Steiner shares how Lewis Hamilton could ‘end up in the Vatican’ after joining Ferrari

Hamilton will look to become world champion for the eighth time, and cement himself in the eyes of many as the undisputed ‘GOAT’, when he joins Ferrari. The Scuderia haven’t won either title since 2008.

But Steiner says Hamilton will ‘end up in the Vatican’ if he ends that drought. He’ll form arguably the strongest pairing on the F1 grid alongside Charles Leclerc.

Norris may head into 2025 as the title favourite in light of McLaren’s recent form. He could stand in the way of Hamilton winning another title before he retires.

Verstappen’s future is less certain. He could potentially follow Hamilton in leaving his ‘home’, Red Bull rather than McLaren in this case, to join Mercedes ahead of major regulation changes.