Headline: Hamilton’s blunt memo to McLaren: drop the niceties — Verstappen won’t
McLaren spent most of 2025 looking like they’d settled the argument in-house. Constructors’ title banked, two drivers in orange set to slug it out to Abu Dhabi. Then Max Verstappen smashed the door back open — and Lewis Hamilton thinks it’s time Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri started playing the game a little harder.
The numbers tell the story McLaren didn’t want. After the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen was 104 points off Piastri and the championship felt like a Woking-only affair. Four race weekends later, he’s slashed that gap to 40. Three grand prix wins in Monza, Baku and Austin, plus the Austin Sprint, have delivered 101 of a possible 108 points. The odds might say “outside shot,” but the momentum meter is stuck on Red Bull.
Hamilton’s advice to Norris and Piastri? Put the blinkers on — and take the gloves off.
“I mean, 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,” he said. “It’s definitely a time where you really have to put your blinkers up, you have to block absolutely everything from the outside… 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.”
Three-way title fight 💪
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— Formula 1 (@F1)October 24, 2025
This late-season pivot hasn’t happened in a vacuum. McLaren’s last month has been messy. Monza brought team orders after a botched stop flipped track position; that lit the conspiracy fuse. Baku was bruising for Piastri, Singapore’s Turn 1 contact between the pair poured petrol on the chatter, and the Austin Sprint double DNF — Piastri tagging Norris — was the slap that woke everyone up. Through it all, to their credit, Norris and Piastri kept the public tone respectful and open. Championship pressure cares little for vibes.
Verstappen’s uphill math is still brutal: he needs to outscore Piastri by an average of eight per race to nick the title, a little over five per race versus Norris. He’s been clearing those bars comfortably across the last four weekends. That’s why Hamilton’s words land with edge — he knows that feeling of being hunted, and how quickly a cushion can feel like a cliff edge.
“You have got three incredibly talented drivers,” Hamilton 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.”
Piastri’s answer in Austin was classic Aussie steel: asked if momentum had swung, he shrugged off the noise and noted he’d rather be where he is than the other two. Fair. The spreadsheet agrees — for now. But the leverage in this fight has changed. Norris and Piastri can’t simply pace each other to the finish and lock out a private duel; Verstappen’s presence erases every margin for error.
This is where McLaren’s greatest strength this season — two drivers fast enough to drop the field — becomes a tactical migraine. Every strategy call has two shadows. Every pit window is political. If it’s really going to be decided between the papaya cars, they need to stop giving the guy in blue and yellow an invitation.
Hamilton, as ever, sees the bigger picture too. Another team in the title mix makes the final run to Abu Dhabi feel like what F1 should be: a living championship, not a coronation tour.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “Having a team 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.”
For McLaren, the ask is simple, if not easy: keep the respect, lose the courtesy. Because Verstappen won’t.
