Lewis Hamilton has cryptically offered Oscar Piastri advice to be more ruthless amid the conclusion of his intra-team McLaren Formula 1 title fight.
The Australian leads the Drivers’ Championship by 22 points from team-mate Lando Norris, as the pair have battled for supremacy whilst juggling the importance of McLaren’s principles of putting the team before anything else.
And whilst there has been a continuous sense of a united front conveyed by the Woking-based squad, fissures have appeared to have formed along the way.
Norris and Piastri collided in Canada, but the Brit placed the blame squarely on himself, and no lasting damage to the harmony of the team was apparently made.
However, the big flashpoint came at Monza, when Piastri was requested to hand back second to Norris after he was baulked by a slow pit stop.
But the biggest moment, however, came in Singapore last week, when Norris aggressively muscled his way into third place ahead of Piastri within just a few corners of the first lap.
The incident created an additional story that somewhat overshadowed the team’s retention of the Constructors’ Championship, achieved by Norris’ third place at the Marina Bay Circuit.
Hamilton has had his own fraught title battles with team-mates in the past, and there is unlikely a driver who can speak with as much authority as him on the subject.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week ahead of the race in Singapore, Hamilton was asked if he had any advice for Piastri as he deals with the tasks at hand.
“[We’re] Competitors, so I wouldn’t pass anything on to him,” he joked.
“Also, it’s not that it’s his first championship that he’s fought for. 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.
Hamilton concluded by offering a humorous but perhaps serious warning to Piastri, which would no doubt alarm his McLaren paymasters.
“Don’t give up any places, that’s what I would say,” he added.
READ MORE – The perennial Ferrari issue that was exacerbated in Singapore
Discussion about this post