Lewis Hamilton Sends Urgent Message to Oscar Piastri After McLaren 'Punishment'

Lewis Hamilton has sent a message to Oscar Piastri amid reports that the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship leader has been 'punished' by McLaren.

Piastri was involved in a multi-car collision at turn one of the United States Grand Prix sprint race last Saturday.

The Australian attempted to cut back across the track to overtake team-mate Lando Norris but hit Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber on the inside of the corner.

The resulting impact took out all three drivers and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, with Piastri's contact with Hulkenberg sending the Australian into the side of Norris' car.

Piastri's DNF meant that he gave up eight points of his advantage in the Drivers' Championship to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

He could only finish fifth in the Grand Prix proper as Verstappen won again, meaning a 23-point swing to the four-time world champion across the weekend.

Piastri is now 14 points ahead of Norris, who finished second in the Grand Prix, and 40 ahead of Verstappen with five races to go.

In the last four races, the Australian has picked up just 37 points compared to Verstappen's 101, while Norris has collected 57.

According to The Race, the incident means that McLaren will 'no longer impose a minor sporting penalty on Lando Norris'.

McLaren announced that there would be 'repercussions' for Norris after he made contact with Piastri on lap one at the Singapore Grand Prix - but left fans confused by not naming what those repercussions were.

The team have done little to clear up exactly what is going on, which has only increased the levels of scrutiny, but Piastri tried to at least explain in his Mexico pre-race press conference.

"There is a degree of responsibility from my side on the sprint [in Austin]," he said. "We're starting this weekend on a clean slate for both of us. Just going out and racing and see who can come out on top."

Hamilton sends warning to Piastri

Whether there is too much focus on the internal situation at McLaren for Piastri and Norris right now has been a topic for debate - but seven-time champion Hamilton has sent a timely reminder to both drivers.

He has warned both Piastri and Norris not to take their eyes off Verstappen, who has won each of the last four titles.

The Ferrari driver told reporters in Mexico: "It's not their first championship. Obviously, they've won other championships in other categories ... I don't... I'm not one to really want to give advice to them.

"But, I mean, in that scenario, it's challenging when you're in the team. The pressure is high. It's definitely a time where you really have to put your blinkers up. You have to block absolutely everything from the outside. There's so much coming in, positive and negative.

"You really have to be cutthroat. That's what Max is, you know. He's gonna take this from them if they don't do the same.

"They've got to be pushing. And you've got to dig deep to, firstly, to be able to hold on [to] someone like Max and in the car that he's in at the moment.

"But also, for either of them to come out ahead, you know, consistency is key. And you've seen that from Max in the last few races."