Lewis Hamilton’s five-word advice to Oscar Piastri in title run-in

Lewis Hamilton has offered five key words of advice to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri as the driver pursues his first World Championship: “Don’t give up any positions.”

It’s a particularly critical warning for a driver who has been tasked with ceding positions to teammate Lando Norris in an overarching interest to keep the team’s operations fair.

Hamilton warns Oscar Piastri: Don’t give up any positions

With the Singapore Grand Prix in the books, Formula 1 is reaching the pointy end of its 2025 season, and the championship battle between teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri looks no closer to being decided in favor of one driver over the other.

With seven wins to Norris’ five, Piastri sits at 336 points, just 22 ahead of the British driver as we enter the final six events of the season.

Now that the constructors’ championship has been settled for the papaya team, many onlookers expect the gloves to come off as Piastri and Norris place their drivers’ championship concerns ahead of the overall scope of the team.

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If there’s one driver on the grid this season who understands the intensity of an intra-team battle for a championship, it’s Lewis Hamilton, who spent several seasons at Mercedes squaring up with teammate Nico Rosberg in pursuit of glory.

Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked if he had any insight to share with Piastri on how to win a championship, perhaps some advice that he wished he would have had when he was younger.

Laughing, Hamilton replied, “I wouldn’t pass anything on to him!”

However, he went on to point out that Piastri isn’t somehow completely inexperienced in the battle for a title.

“Also, you know, it’s not that it’s his first championship that he’s fought for,” Hamilton pointed out. “He’s obviously competed in championships for many years. So there’s not really much that I can say.

“I’ve not spoken to him, so I don’t know what frame of mind he’s in.”

But the seven-time champion did ultimately offer five critical words of advice to the young Australian: “Don’t give up any places. That’s what I’d say.”

That’s critical advice at this stage in the championship, because Piastri has indeed given up places to his teammate — both intentionally and unintentionally.

At the Italian Grand Prix, for example, Piastri was asked to cede the position he’d gained over his teammate during the pit cycle when Norris suffered a slow stop. While the Australian driver questioned his team and pointed out that he believed they’d agreed that slow stops were simply part of racing, he nevertheless moved over to return that position to Norris.

Then, in Singapore, Norris bombed from fifth on the grid up to third, bumping into both Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri on the way. Again, Piastri pointed out that McLaren had stated that contact was never acceptable, yet conceded that position to Norris.

While Piastri isn’t underwater just yet in terms of championship points, Hamilton is correct: he cannot afford to give up any position if he wants to claim the 2025 title.

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