Former F1 team boss: “I disagree. I wrote about it throughout the season.”

Former Haas team manager Günter Steiner has come to the defense of Lando Norris, who some fans and pundits regard as an unworthy Formula 1 champion.

Max Verstappen’s run of four consecutive world titles ended last season when Norris won a tight three-way title fight at the final round in Abu Dhabi.

The British driver thus became the first British Formula 1 champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020, and the first McLaren driver to win the championship since Hamilton in 2008.

However, Norris faced a wave of criticism immediately after winning his first championship. While some experts and fans stated that the title was undeserved, it was claimed that the McLaren team preferred him over teammate Oscar Piastri.

The turning point of the season was a technical error at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, which caused Norris to retire from the race and fall 34 points behind Piastri. After that, many, including Steiner himself, eliminated the Briton from title contention.

However, the Italian admitted that he was wrong in his assessments and emphasized that any doubts that Norris deserved his title were unfounded.

Steiner said, “I don’t agree with that. He definitely deserves that title. Lando fought until the end.”

We all wrote him off throughout the season, especially me, but he bravely returned to the fight and that’s why he became world champion.

“He has learned his lessons and avoided the mistakes he made at the beginning of the season.”