According to Steiner, only one driver is greater than the team: And it's not Verstappen!

19:50, 16 Jul

Co-author:Norberto Mujica

byEstéban den Toom

According to Guenther Steiner, currently in Formula 1, there's only one man who is greater than, or as great, as his team, and it's not Max Verstappen.

The former team boss does believe that Verstappen is indeed a big name within the sport but is not necessarily a role model outside of it or at least he doesn't aspire to be one.

"I think in Formula One the only one above a team is Lewis Hamilton," Steiner began on the Business of Sport podcast. "His presence, his status, it's also huge outside the sport, because that's what it comes down to. You're great within the sport, but if you become great outside of the sport, you're greater than the team itself. It's the same in soccer, it happens there too. I think in Formula 1, the only one who can currently claim that is Lewis."

In this respect, Verstappen is not as big as Hamilton

Steiner does not believe that the Verstappen brand is bigger than the Red Bull brand, whereas he does feel that way about Hamilton and Ferrari.

"I think Max is very big in the sport but he doesn't have that. He doesn't work on being somebody outside of the sport because for him his life is racing cars.

"While Lewis has got another thing as well what he wants to achieve in life. I think we see it now with Lewis - Ferrari, there are two huge brands together, and it's almost sometimes a conflict: who is bigger, Ferrari or Lewis?"

Afterward, the former Haas team boss, who achieved notoriety, in part, due to the hit Netflix series Drive to Survive, opined that this might be one of the reasons why things, as he sees it, are not currently gelling well between the Italian Scuderia and the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton stated after the British Grand Prix that he would spend time in the factory to outline what the 2026 car should do without.