Lewis Hamilton has urged McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to be "cut-throat" as they aim to hold off a late charge from Max Verstappen.

With five races of the 2025 Formula One season remaining, four-time reigning champion Verstappen sits 40 points back from leader Piastri.

Verstappen has won three of the past four races to put himself firmly in contention, with Norris 26 points ahead of the Dutchman in second place.

And Ferrari's Hamilton, who has a long history of fierce battles against Verstappen, warned Piastri and Norris to be brutal as they aim to get over the line ahead of the Red Bull star.

"The pressure is high. It is a time where you have to put your blinkers up and block everything from the outside," the seven-time F1 world champion told Sky Sports ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

"There is so much coming in, positive and negative.

"Also, you really have to be cut-throat and that is what Max is. He is going to take this from them if they don't do the same.

"They have got to be pushing and you have to dig deep firstly to be able to hold off someone like Max in the car that he is in at the moment.

"But for either of them to come out ahead, consistency is key and we have seen that from Max in the last few races."

A Max Verstappen resurgence which even caught Oscar Piastri by surprise!

Despite this, the championship leader says he won't be changing his approach for the final few rounds #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/yE1UfwFvZ2

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 24, 2025

Verstappen has won the Mexico City Grand Prix five times, at least two more than any other driver around the circuit, with Jim Clark the closest to him, with three victories.

And Piastri conceded that he has been shocked by just how Verstappen has turned his form around in recent races.

"The run of form he has had since Monza has been a bit of a surprise," said Piastri.

"There were flashes of those performances at certain points early in the season but also some pretty big dips.

"[He is] now being consistent, so that's been a bit of a surprise. They've been throwing a lot of things at their car, trying to improve it, so maybe not a huge surprise, but he is coming to the fight quicker than I expected."