Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are under "unimaginable" pressure to win their maiden Formula One title. 

Piastri holds a 22-point lead over his team-mate in the standings after 10 races of the 2025 season, with the Australian claiming five victories to Norris' two so far. 

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen is third with two race wins, while George Russell, who won the Canadian Grand Prix last time out, is one place further back. 

But Mercedes' first win of the season was not the talking point in Montreal, as Norris collided with Piastri in the closing stages of the race, with the Briton unable to finish. 

Piastri was able to come home in fourth, with this the first incident between the two title challengers, something McLaren CEO Zak Brown said was "inevitable". 

Hamilton, who won the first of his seven world championships at McLaren, is no stranger to intra-team battles, having been pitted against Fernando Alonso in his rookie year. 

He then had a four-year rivalry with former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, dubbed the "Silver War", with Hamilton suggesting that there is pressure on Norris and Piastri to sustain their dynamic throughout the season, having been told they can freely race against each other. 

"I think the job [Piastri] is doing is fantastic," Hamilton told Motorsport Week. 

"It's mega for me to see McLaren doing so well, because that's where I started, and also to see them so close, him and Lando, two great drivers.

"The pressure on both of them will be unimaginable, I would say, for most people that are not experiencing it, and who have not experienced it."

We backkkkk #McLaren | #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/6Kw1eN1QlD

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 26, 2025

Hamilton, though, has been observing Piastri's remarkable rise this season from up close, and believes that the 24-year-old is doing everything he needs to win the title this year. 

"I don't know him a huge amount. We sometimes talk a little bit at the parades, but he's always been very easy to approach, easy to speak to. He's clearly a nice lad," he added. 

"We've seen both, and obviously, particularly Oscar, doing a great, great job weekend in, weekend out, delivering, qualifying, and everything you need to do to win a world title. 

"So I don't have any advice. Just keep doing what you're doing, and it seems to be working."

Norris said that he "made a fool of himself" for causing the collision in the last race, though did reveal he was quick to apologise to Piastri about the incident. 

And the championship leader was keen not to focus on the past, but to look towards the future about what he, Norris and McLaren can achieve. 

"The incident in Canada didn't warrant any big discussions or big decisions. It was a misjudgement from Lando that he admitted to and apologised for immediately," Piastri said. 

"We knew going into this year it was probably going to be a championship fight between me and Lando, and what would be at stake.

"Lando and I don't just want one opportunity this year to win a Championship, we want many more.

"We want success for years to come and having the team united is a simple way to do that."

Smiling in the Austrian sun #McLaren | #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/x4O1JzftP6

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 26, 2025

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Oscar Piastri – McLaren

Despite his coming together with Norris, which saw McLaren fail to see any of their drivers finish on the podium for the first time in nine races, Piastri continues to lead the drivers' championship, something he has done for the last six races. 

Indeed, only Mark Webber (six), Alan Jones (10) and Jack Brabham (24 – the only one to have achieved it six times in a row, last doing so between 1966 and 1967 with seven) have achieved that feat among Australians in F1. 

Piastri has also made his four pole positions this season count. When starting at the front of the grid, three have ended in victory, only failing to do so at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. If he repeats the trick in Austria, he will be the 36th driver to achieve this on at least four occasions.

McLaren have achieved 52 one-two finishes in F1, three of them coming in 2025, all of which have seen Piastri finish ahead of Norris.

Should they do so again at the Red Bull Ring, the British team could achieve four in a year for the first time since 2007 (four with Alonso and Hamilton). 

But McLaren have not won in Austria since 2001, when David Coulthard rose from seventh on the grid to beat the great Michael Schumacher to first place. 

Max Verstappen – Red Bull 

Red Bull will be hoping for a positive result at their home race, and will have every reason to be confident of doing so with Verstappen behind the wheel. 

No driver has won the Austrian Grand Prix more times than Verstappen (four). He also has the most podiums (six), pole positions (four) and fastest laps (four) at the circuit.

But the reigning world champion has failed to win a race since his triumph at Imola back in May, claiming just one podium in that time, which came in Canada last time out. 

His second-placed finish behind Russell saw him claim his 117th podium finish, all of which have come for Red Bull. 

The Dutchman is now second on the all-time list with the most podiums for a single team, surpassing Schumacher's total with Ferrari (116), and now only trails Hamilton (153) from his time with Mercedes. 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers'

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 198

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 176

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 155

4. George Russell (Mercedes) - 136

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 104

Constructors'

1. McLaren - 374

2. Mercedes - 199

3. Ferrari - 183

4. Red Bull - 162

5. Williams - 55