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Seven-time champion Hamilton has warned the McLaren title contenders, Piastri and Lando Norris, concerning Verstappen’s “cut-throat” approach as the three racers head into the last five Grands Prix of the championship.

The Australian driver now holds the lead in the drivers’ standings by a 14-point margin from his teammate Norris, while the Red Bull star sits 40 points adrift from the top following three wins and a second place in recent events.

Hamilton, who battled an intense and bitter championship battle with his rival Verstappen in 2021, stated: “In that scenario it’s tough, expectations are immense. It is a time when it’s essential to focus entirely and shut out everything from outside noise.

“It’s necessary to be cut-throat and this describes Max behaves, he will snatch this from the McLaren duo if they don’t match his intensity.

“You have to dig deep to hold off someone like Max and the Red Bull vehicle. Additionally for Piastri or Norris to emerge victorious, steady performance is crucial, and we’ve observed this from Max lately.”

Hamilton explained that Verstappen faced the simplest task as the competitor coming from behind. He found himself 104 points adrift from the lead following the Dutch Grand Prix last month.

“You have three highly skilled drivers and I’m unsure how they're going to behave,” he stated.

“Max has won it four times so he understands what it's like and being the hunter is considerably less stressful than holding the lead.

“If you are leading and someone is chopping away, that affects you mentally rather than as the pursuer and you have nothing to lose. When leading the stakes are high.”

Mercedes driver, the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix two races ago, commented: “Piastri and Norris possess the quickest machine so it's theirs to lose. However, Verstappen and Red Bull are performing an amazing job so you can never discount them.

“They showed signs of great pace initially but their form varied, whereas now consistently they are dominating.”

Equal Opportunity at McLaren

Piastri and Norris approach the last rounds able to compete openly between themselves and without team restrictions hanging over them – except for avoiding collisions with one another.

Norris was previously under undefined “repercussions” after colliding with Piastri as he overtook for third place from him on the opening lap in the Singapore GP.

After the incident involving both drivers during the sprint race start at the US Grand Prix recently, the team has lifted these.

“I acknowledge my role on my part in the sprint and we are starting the upcoming race with no past issues for both of us, just going out and competing,” Piastri stated.

Piastri, who won the Dutch GP, has experienced his lead erode after losing to his teammate in recent Grands Prix, but he admitted he had also been surprised Max had joined the fight so quickly.

“The performance Verstappen has shown since Monza was somewhat unexpected,” he explained.

“There were flashes previously but there were also inconsistencies. We know Red Bull has been applying various improvements on the RB19 aiming to enhance performance but he has come the championship battle quicker than I expected.”

Nonetheless, when questioned whether he was worried regarding Max, Piastri responded: “It's not really a focus for me. Verstappen has shown reliable and fast the last few weekends but it offers no advantage in worrying about or focusing on that.

“The key to me win the championship is get the most out of myself, my machine, McLaren. Verstappen is there, he’s a contender but in the end it has no effect on my approach to competition.”

Norris added: “Max has had very good form the last month or so. Red Bull has been delivering a higher level than McLaren.

“Max has taken victory a good amount of races and he’s a top driver. It would be unwise not to want to give Max a chance.

“Currently, Red Bull is performing stronger, on several occasions they were faster. But we still have chances. McLaren possesses the quicker machine in the final rounds and we need to make use of that.”

Verstappen stated: “Obviously our form has been excellent, definitely been enjoying it a lot more in this way and we aim to continue this streak into the future. We are aware we must perform flawlessly until the finish to stand a chance, but we just try to get the most from each race and find our position.”

Red Bull Grid Antics ‘Pretty Funny’

The Red Bull team were penalized €50,000 following the Austin race, after a team personnel was present on the starting grid after it was supposed to be cleared as he attempted to clear the adhesive McLaren placed in the garage area to guide Norris position his car in the right place.

Norris remarked he found the situation “very amusing, especially because I didn't even use the guide, which added to the humor”.

He added: “It was there for assistance. It wasn’t necessary during the US GP. We were aware that Red Bull was attempting this. {They tried to take tape off