McLaren drivers must be "cutthroat" to hold off Max Verstappen, says Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton stated that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris must become “cutthroat” to hold off Max Verstappen in the 2025 Formula 1 world drivers’ championship battle. 

Verstappen has put himself in contention for the title by winning three of the past four grands prix, plus the Austin sprint race – ending the belief that it was just between the McLaren duo. 

It comes after Red Bull brought upgrades to Monza at the start of that run, which means the Austrian outfit now has a car capable of consistently challenging the previously dominant McLarens.

Verstappen is now 40 points behind leader Piastri, who is 14 ahead of team-mate Norris with five rounds remaining. McLaren has attempted to keep things level between its drivers all year, which has led to the pair taking points off each other while fighting for position. This allowed Verstappen to contend for his fifth, consecutive championship with Red Bull backing him entirely. 

Hamilton was asked about the matter ahead of this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix, referring to his previous experience having lost the very dramatic 2021 title fight against the Dutchman.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“You really have to be cutthroat,” the seven-time world champion told F1 TV. “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.”

Many have criticised the McLaren drivers for allowing Verstappen into the title fight, but Hamilton says they’ve got to ignore it as Piastri and Norris fight for their maiden crown.

“It’s challenging when you’re in the team, the pressure is high,” said the Ferrari driver. “It’s definitely a time where you have to put your blinkers up, you have to block absolutely everything from the outside because there’s so much coming in, positive and negative.”

Hamilton has, himself, had a disappointing debut season for Ferrari, as he is sixth in the championship – 50 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc and yet to score a grand prix podium. 

But the 40-year-old finished fourth in Austin last week, which equalled his best Sunday result of 2025 and this weekend he is at a track Ferrari won at last season with Carlos Sainz.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

Hamilton is therefore hoping to use Ferrari’s Mexico success as a springboard for this weekend, but cannot use this past experience there as a reference point too much given he was previously at Mercedes.

“We’re still trying to extract more from this car,” said Hamilton, who won the China sprint in March.

“Last race, we got a lot out of the car, but I still think there’s a little bit more performance. From track to track it’s a little bit different. This weekend, you don’t know how strong everyone’s going to be, but I think Ferrari were very strong here last year.

“So I’m hoping that we can take a look at what they had last year and apply this weekend. I anticipate the car is going to feel quite a lot different to what I experienced last year here and the previous years that I’ve been here. And I’m missing P1.

“This weekend I need to learn to run straight away pretty much. It’s obviously building up to speed. I’m really hoping that we can be strong again this weekend and really try to take the fight to the guys up ahead.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team