Oscar Piastri urged to adopt ruthless F1 approach at McLaren

1996 F1 champion Damon Hill has suggested Oscar Piastri should look to be more selfish when it comes to his approach at McLaren.

McLaren asserted throughout the 2025 campaign that it was providing equal opportunities to Piastri and team-mate Lando Norris.

This included a controversial call in Monza when Piastri was ordered to give back his track position to Norris, who lost out through a slow pit stop.

Piastri's championship hopes dwindled as the season progressed and he suffered a major blow in Qatar when he, along with Norris, was disqualified from the result due to excessive plank wear.

Speaking on the Drive To Wynn podcast, Hill suggested the Qatar DSQ marked Piastri's lowest point of the season.

“I think he probably felt the worst he was going to feel after Qatar, I think he could not believe what had happened there,” he said.

“He had some misfortune, you have to say, and he’s lost out because of some decisions with McLaren trying to be fair. 

“For example, Lando had a bad pit stop at Monza, and he was asked to give the place back.

“Wow, that’s quite a big thing to do, isn’t it? To give points away to a guy you could be fighting for the world championship?

“He will probably look at that and go, ‘Well, maybe I won’t do that again’.”

Norris eventually emerged from the season as the championship, fending off a late challenge from Max Verstappen.

As Piastri looks to clinch his own hands around the title trophy, Hill has suggested he needs to take a more ruthless approach.

“Next year, if I were him, I’d be coming back saying, ‘Listen, I love the team, and it’s been great, but I have to think of myself’,” Hill said.

“‘It’s my career. If the situation arises and you ask me to return points to my team-mate, you have to ask yourself, why would I do that?’

“‘I can’t afford to do that. I did it last year. That could have cost me the world championship’.”