Guenther Steiner may no longer be the team principal of Haas but that hasn’t stopped him still being heavily involved in Formula 1 this season.
The 59-year-old is regularly doing the rounds in the media and was an ambassador for the recent Miami Grand Prix.
At the event, he appeared as a guest on the F1 Explains Podcast and took part in a question and answers session.
One of the questions Guenther Steiner was asked was if he was to start up a new Formula 1 team, which two drivers would he select?
Unsurprisingly, the first name he said was Max Verstappen given his dominance over the past few seasons.
However, Steiner admitted that alongside Verstappen he would choose McLaren star Lando Norris.
Given his success during that Grand Prix weekend, as he recorded his first-ever Formula 1 win, it made a lot of sense to choose the British driver.
Guenther Steiner says Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are his ideal F1 driver pairing
Lando Norris finally added his name to the exclusive list of Formula 1 Grand Prix winners at the Miami Grand Prix.
The timing of the safety car after Logan Sargeant’s crash was perfect for the 24-year-old but didn’t mean he had a straightforward victory handed to him.
Norris had to negotiate a tricky restart with Verstappen behind him and Steiner and the rest of the crowd in Miami watched on to see if he could keep the Red Bull behind him.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration
After the race, Norris admitted that he still needs to work on scenarios like that as the Dutch driver nearly got a run on him heading into turn one.
However, once he survived that scare, he was able to drive off into the distance in his McLaren, creating more intrigue among F1 fans that their latest upgrade might have closed the gap to the current Constructors’ champions.
Lando Norris going from strength to strength in 2024
Asked to imagine he was creating a new Formula 1 team, Steiner was told to name his perfect driver line-up and said: “I mean I would say Max [Verstappen], if I didn’t say Max…exactly.
“I would pick Max and I would say, I would pick maybe Lando Norris.
“He’s very talented. He’s now at the stage with McLaren where he’s almost there but not completely there and I think he’s hungry to make that last little step to get to the top completely.
“He’s got enough experience but he’s still got that real hunger to get there and he has got the talent, that’s the reason why.”
READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Lando Norris now trying to take the battle to Red Bull and Max Verstappen
Plenty of Formula 1 fans would agree with Steiner that Norris and Verstappen are two of the strongest drivers on the grid at the moment.
However, Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has admitted he’s not worried about the 24-year-old just yet.
Norris is putting in the work behind the scenes and that appears to be paying off now.
He still has a significant gap to close if he wants to get anywhere near Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship this season.
But he will have both Ferrari drivers and Sergio Perez firmly in his sights with the paddock heading to Imola and then Monaco for the start of the European leg of the campaign.
The post ‘I would pick’: Guenther Steiner says he would pair ‘hungry’ driver with Max Verstappen in perfect F1 team appeared first on F1 Oversteer.