Advice or warning? Hamilton’s ‘cut-throat’ verdict as Verstappen joins title race

Michelle Foster
Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren teammates

Lewis Hamilton has told McLaren drivers they need to be 'cut-throat'

Lewis Hamilton has told the McLaren teammates they need to be “cut-throat” to win this year’s World title, especially now that Max Verstappen has emerged as a genuine challenger.

Nearing the end of a season in which McLaren was expected to cruise to the 1-2 in the championship, the only question being will it be Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris or Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the teammates are facing a serious threat from Verstappen.

McLaren v Max Verstappen: Lewis Hamilton weighs in

⦁ Max Verstappen has closed to within 40 points of Oscar Piastri
⦁ Lewis Hamilton also tells McLaren duo to ‘put the blinkers on’
⦁ Piastri warned he has ‘everything to lose’

Although after the Dutch Grand Prix it looked as if Verstappen was out of the running having fallen 104 points behind Piastri, four race weekends later, that deficit has been slashed to just 40 points.

Verstappen has brought in 101 of the maximum 108 points since the Italian Grand Prix, securing three grand prix wins in Monza, Baku and Austin, as well as the Austin Sprint. The odds may not yet be in Verstappen’s favour, but momentum is.

It is, as his Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies put it, “watching history in the making”.

Verstappen still faces a stiff challenge as he needs to outscore Piastri by an average of eight points per race to beat the Australian to the title, and 5.2 points more than Norris. But he’s been doing that comfortably the last four races, up by an average of 16 against Piastri and 11 against Norris.

Verstappen’s upward trend has coincided with a problematic period for McLaren, starting in Monza when the team issued team orders in favour of Norris after a botched pit stop cost him a position to Piastri. Conspiracy theories took hold.

Piastri went on to suffer a crash-filled weekend in Baku, before the teammates’ Singapore’s Turn 1 contact threw fuel on the conspiracy fire. A double DNF at the Sprint in Austin where Piastri tagged Norris capped a trying few weeks for the newly-crowned Constructors’ Champions.

But throughout it all, even in the face of the Singapore flashpoint, Piastri and Norris have maintained an open and respectful relationship.

Seven-time World Champion Hamilton says it’s time to let go of that as the gloves need to come off, especially now that Verstappen is in the thick of it.

“I mean,” Hamilton said, “obviously they have won other championships in other categories. I’m not one to really want to give advice to them but, in that scenario, it’s challenging when you’re in the team. The pressure is high.

“It’s definitely a time where you really have to put your blinkers up, you have to block absolutely everything from the outside, all this because there’s so much coming in, positive and negative.

“Also you really have to be cut-throat. That’s what Max is, he’s going to take this from them if they don’t do the same.

“They’ve got to be pushing and you have got to dig deep to, firstly, be able to hold off someone like Max and in the car that he’s in at the moment.

“But, also, for either of them to come out ahead, consistency is key and you’ve seen that from Max in the last few races.”

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Hamilton warns Piastri defiance may come back to bite him

Leading the standings by 26 points over Norris and 40 ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton reckons Piastri is in the most precarious position.

The Aussie was defiant at the Circuit of the Americas where he finished fifth, half a minute down on race winner Verstappen, when asked if momentum had shifted away from him.

“Not really,” he said, “I’d still rather be where I am than the other two.”

Hamilton, however, believes being the hunted is more difficult than being the hunter.

“You have got three incredibly talented drivers,” he said. “I can’t predict how they’re all going to behave but, of course, Max has won it four times, so he knows what it’s like and being the hunter is much easier than being the defender.

“When you’re in the lead and someone’s chopping away at your lead that plays on you more than if you’re chasing.

“If you’re chasing you have nothing to lose, as opposed to when you’re in the lead you have everything to lose.

“It’ll be interesting to see how they handle it. We’ll all witness that and whatever the case, it’s going to be exciting.”

But however the title race plays out, no matter the winner, Hamilton says having Verstappen in the mix adds a bit of extra spice in the run-in to Abu Dhabi.

“I think it’s great,” said Hamilton. “Having a team [McLaren] that was just out front, obviously they won the Constructors’ and then having the championship battle within the two [drivers] is still exciting.

“But adding another team and another driver into the mix really makes it even more exciting, and that’s really what this sport should be like.

“It was great for me having battles with Max, another team, and the battle development through the year and consistency. I think that’s what people tune in to see.”

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