Steiner calls Norris ‘unprofessional’ over Coca-Cola cooldown room row
Lando Norris has been called unprofessional by Guenther Steiner
Guenther Steiner has called out Lando Norris for being unprofessional after the reigning world champion clapped back when he was told he couldn’t drink a Coca-Cola in the cooldown room after the Spanish Grand Prix.
Pepsi is an official partner of Formula 1, having signed a partnership last season, but it was the drink company’s main rival Coca-Cola that made the headlines at the Madring.
Guenther Steiner criticises Lando Norris over Coca-Cola incident
Having finished third at the Spanish Grand Prix, Norris joined race winner Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen in the cooldown room ahead of the podium celebration.
As the trio watched the highlights from the race, Norris was drinking a Coke only to be told by an official that he could not drink it.
He gave that short shrift.
“I might get told off,” Norris said to Antonelli before addressing the official.
“I just did a race, so I’m allowed to drink whatever I like. Thank you so much,” he said.
Former Haas team principal Steiner called Norris’s actions unprofessional, as drivers know they aren’t allowed branded drinks in the cooldown room.
But, at the end of the day, it is a mountain out of a molehill.
“If you are a professional, you don’t do that. End of story,” he told The Red Flags podcast.
“You know what you can do and what you cannot do. You’re well trained. He shouldn’t have done it.
“Is it a bad thing that he did it? Will somebody get hurt? No. But as a pro, you shouldn’t do it. But he has done it.
“And you know what? I couldn’t give a s***.”
It could be argued that if the official had not told him not to drink the Coca-Cola, no one would’ve noticed.
But now it is a headline.
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“It’s all going by categories,” Steiner said. “They sell it and obviously if you don’t pay, you cannot have it. And he had a Coke. It was not the smartest thing to do.
“But as I said, I don’t care because now, for Coca-Cola, it worked out pretty good. It was pretty good for [Coca-Cola].
“If they wouldn’t have said anything, nobody would have even noticed, but because it was so bumped up now it’s a thing, and now Coca-Cola is laughing.”
Norris’ third place in Spain left him 106 points behind Antonelli in the fight for the F1 2026 Drivers’ Championship.
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