Steiner backs Norris to overhaul Russell and claim second in 2026 F1 standings

Guenther Steiner has predicted that Lando Norris will overtake George Russell in the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ standings, pointing to the McLaren driver’s recent form as evidence he can close a 25-point gap before the season ends. Norris currently sits fourth with 186 points, while Russell holds second on 211 and Kimi Antonelli leads the championship with 292.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, the former Haas team principal was unambiguous in his assessment. “He will be second if he continues like this,” Steiner said. “Look how happy the Lando boy is.”

Norris’s resurgence follows a difficult start to the 2026 season for McLaren. The Woking team introduced a package of upgrades that fuelled back-to-back victories at the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix, before Norris finished fourth at the Italian Grand Prix. Those results have dragged him firmly into the championship conversation.

The 26-year-old’s confidence was further boosted by the announcement of a contract extension with McLaren running through to the end of 2030. Speaking after that deal was confirmed, Norris offered a candid assessment of where the team stands.

“The team is working better than they’ve ever worked before,” Norris said. “I think they’re working in a more efficient, harder way, even than the last couple of years. And that level was world championship-winning level. So, it’s not that I don’t think we can win it.”

Norris acknowledged that the car still requires improvement but stopped well short of ruling out a title challenge. “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. And I believe we can. It’s just a race against time, as always, within Formula 1. But we proved over the last few weekends that we can still win races, and we have very good momentum.”

The 2025 champion added that he wants more certainty before declaring an outright title bid. “I always want that little bit more, and I want to be confident that we can improve the car enough to easily say, ‘Yeah, we can fight for this world championship.’ We just need to improve some things with the car, and I’m still confident we can do that.”

With the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring circuit now complete, the standings remain fluid. Whether McLaren can sustain the upgrade momentum that revived Norris’s season will be the defining question in the races ahead.