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Lewis Hamilton has warned McLaren’s championship hopefuls, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, regarding Max Verstappen’s “ruthless” character as these three drivers approach the final five races of the F1 calendar.

Piastri is ahead in the title race by 14 points clear from his teammate Norris, while Verstappen sits 40 points from first place after three wins and a second place in the last four Grands Prix.

The Mercedes veteran, who engaged in a heated championship battle with Verstappen in 2021, said: “In that scenario it’s difficult, the tension mounts. At this point you have to put your blinkers up and shut out everything from external sources.

“One must be uncompromising and that’s exactly how Verstappen is, he intends to claim this away from them unless they match his intensity.

“One must push hard to resist someone like Max and the Red Bull vehicle. Additionally for Piastri or Norris to come out ahead, consistency is key, and you've seen that in Max’s performances lately.”

The seven-time champion noted that Max had the easiest job as the competitor chasing the leaders. Verstappen had been trailing by 104 points behind Piastri post the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.

“There are three highly skilled drivers and I can't predict their exact reactions,” added Hamilton.

“Verstappen has claimed the title on four occasions so he is aware of what it's like and occupying the pursuing role is far simpler than holding the lead.

“When you're in the lead and a rival is closing in, that creates pressure more than when you are behind and there’s no pressure. When leading you have everything to lose.”

Mercedes driver, who won the Singapore Grand Prix recently, remarked: “The McLaren guys possess the quickest machine so it's theirs to lose. But Max and Red Bull are performing a superb effort so you can never discount them.

“They displayed glimpses of impressive performance early in the season but they lacked consistency, whereas now consistently they are excelling.”

Level Playing Field at the McLaren Team

Piastri and Norris approach the last rounds able to compete openly between themselves and with no internal team rules hanging over them – aside from steering clear of incidents between them.

Norris was subject to undefined “repercussions” after colliding with his teammate when securing the final podium spot from his teammate during the initial turns in the Singapore GP.

Following the crash involving both drivers at the start of the sprint at the US Grand Prix in the previous round, the team has lifted these.

“There is a degree of responsibility from my side during the sprint race and we begin this round within a clean slate for both of us, just going out and going racing,” commented the Australian.

Piastri, victorious at the Dutch GP, has seen his advantage shrink after losing to Norris in each of the past four races, but he admitted it surprised him Verstappen had entered the title battle so quickly.

“The streak he's had since Monza was somewhat unexpected,” said Piastri.

“There were flashes in the early stages but there were likewise significant drops. We know Red Bull has been applying various improvements to their machine trying to improve it but Max has joined to the fight quicker than I expected.”

However, upon being questioned if he was concerned regarding Max, Piastri said: “It isn’t truly something I think about. He has been steady and competitive the last few weekends but there’s no point in focusing on or focusing on that.

“The thing that's going to help securing the title is optimize performance personally, my machine, the team. Max is present, he’s a contender but ultimately it doesn't change the way I handle my driving.”

Norris added: “Verstappen has shown strong performances over the past weeks. They have been performing better than we have.

“Verstappen has secured multiple Grands Prix and he's Max Verstappen. One would be foolish to not consider Max a threat.

“Currently, their form is superior, a lot of races they had more pace. However, opportunities remain. McLaren possesses the quicker machine for the remaining races and we must simply capitalize on that.”

Verstappen said: “It's clear we’ve been on a strong streak, really appreciating the recent success as such and we aim to maintain this form onward. We are aware we must perform flawlessly until the finish to have a chance, but we just try to maximise everything and find our position.”

Pit Lane Incident ‘Pretty Funny’

Red Bull were fined €50,000 post the US Grand Prix, because a team personnel was on the grid when the grid should have been empty as he attempted to remove the tape used by McLaren in the garage area to assist Lando position his car in the right place.

Lando commented he considered the incident “quite funny, notably as I didn't even use the tape, so even better”.

He added: “I used it for assistance. It wasn’t necessary in Austin. It was known that Red Bull was attempting this. {They tried to take tape off