Guenther Steiner believes Lando Norris will surpass George Russell for second place in the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ championship if his current form continues. The former Haas team principal shared his prediction on The Red Flags Podcast, pointing to Norris’s recent resurgence as McLaren’s upgrades have paid dividends.
Following the Spanish GP at the new Madring circuit, Norris sits fourth in the standings with 186 points—25 behind Russell (211) and 106 adrift of Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli (292). Steiner said, “He will be second if he continues like this. Look how happy the Lando boy is.”
After a challenging start to the year, McLaren’s upgrades propelled Norris to back-to-back wins in Hungary and the Netherlands, followed by a fourth place in Italy. These results have vaulted him into the championship conversation.
Norris, who recently signed a contract extension with McLaren through 2030, expressed confidence in the team’s direction: “The team is working better than they’ve ever worked before… I’m confident we have a lot of what we need in place. It’s just certain areas on the car that we need to improve. But we proved over the last few weekends that we can still win races, and we have very good momentum.”
With McLaren on an upward trajectory and Norris riding a wave of strong form, Steiner’s prediction of a late-season climb up the standings looks increasingly plausible as the F1 season heads toward its climax.
