Piastri on the right track to take first F1 championship, says Hamilton

Oscar Piastri is doing what he needs to do to win a first Formula One title, the sport's most successful driver Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday.

Hamilton won the first of his seven championships with McLaren and Australian Piastri has won four of seven races this season for the Woking team to lead teammate Lando Norris by 13 points before this weekend's Monaco showcase.

Asked what he thought about the 24-year-old and how hard it was to win a first title, Ferrari driver Hamilton said Piastri was doing a fantastic job in his third season in the sport.

“It's amazing to see McLaren doing so well, because that's where I started,” he said. “Also to see them so close, him and Lando, just these two great drivers.

“The pressure on them will be unimaginable, I would say, for most people that are not experiencing it or have not experienced it. He [Piastri] has been doing everything you need to do to win a world championship. I don't have any advice for him. Just to keep doing what he's doing.”

Piastri won three races in a row — Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami — and qualified on pole at Imola last weekend only to miss out on victory after Red Bull's Max Verstappen seized the lead around the outside through turn one.

The Australian, who also won in China, ended third with Norris second.

Piastri told reporters separately in the team's harbourside hospitality that calling Imola a reality check was too harsh but it had been a reminder that not everything would go to plan this season.

“I think maybe the [Red Bull] race pace was a bit of a surprise for us but that they were quick through the weekend was not a big surprise,” he said. “So we've got to keep working hard.”

Three Australians have won in Monaco — the late triple champion Jack Brabham, Piastri's now-manager Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.

“There's quite a lot of Australian history around this place,” observed Piastri. “It would be nice to add another chapter.”