Lewis Hamilton has an honest advice for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to beat Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton has asserted that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris would have to be "cutthroat" if they want to beat Max Verstappen to the 2025 drivers' crown. The Dutchman has homed in on the papaya duo's lead in the drivers' table, with him sitting just 40 points below the championship lead after winning three of the last four races.

At the start of the season, the championship battle for the drivers' crown was slated to stay between Piastri and Norris, as McLaren had a substantial pace advantage over its rivals. But, since the paddock has returned from the summer break, this advantage has often dwindled at multiple points in the last few weeks.

This has led Verstappen, who was once 104 points adrift from the championship lead after the Dutch GP, to reduce his deficit by 64 points in the following four race weekends to make himself a contender for the championship again.

Subsequently, the paddock was engaged in the conversation surrounding how a driver should go by when they are in a fight for the elusive title against the Dutchman, and who better to look to than Lewis Hamilton. He battled Verstappen for the 2021 drivers' title, a challenge that went down to the final lap of the season, where the 28-year-old had emerged victorious.

So, when asked about how the papaya duo should go about fighting Verstappen, Hamilton told F1TV:

"You really have to be cutthroat. 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 they’ve got to dig deep to be able to, firstly, hold off someone like Max and 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."

Of the last four race weekends, none of the McLaren drivers have been able to finish ahead of Max Verstappen in any race format.

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Max Verstappen isn't stressing about potentially winning his fifth drivers' title

Lando Norris (L), Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri (R) after the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen's deficit now stands at 40 points ahead of the Mexican GP. A gap that initially seemed insurmountable when the paddock returned from the summer break now feels within reach if the momentum on the four-time champion's side continues.

This would provide him with the fifth drivers' championship that the Red Bull driver was looking for, but Verstappen isn't stressing about claiming the title, as he said ahead of the Mexican GP weekend (via F1's official website):

"I don’t know. It’s still a big gap to the lead. We’re not too stressed about it. We’re just trying to enjoy it, trying to get the most out of it until the end. If it works, amazing. If it doesn’t, we can still be very proud of the upswing in performance that we showed."

If Max Verstappen wins his fifth drivers' title this year, he would be the first person since Michael Schumacher to claim five world drivers' championships in succession.