Piastri and Norris told to 'WAKE UP' as F1 champion fires warning shot

A former F1 world champion has told Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to 'wake up' amid their ongoing championship battle.

McLaren wrapped up constructors' championship success at the Singapore Grand Prix last time out, but they're still wanting one of their drivers to become the first McLaren racer to win the drivers' championship since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

However, recent team orders fiascos and battles between the drivers have allowed four-time champion Max Verstappen back into the hunt for a record-equalling fifth consecutive drivers' title.

After finishing either first or second in each of the last four races, Verstappen is now just 63 points behind Piastri in what looks potentially to be a three-way battle in the final six race weekends of the season.

Three of those six race weekends are also sprint weekends with extra points on offer, allowing Verstappen more chances to try and close the gap to his McLaren rivals.

Now, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has issued a defiant verdict on who he believes will win the championship. "Verstappen," Villeneuve told the Trento Festival dello Sport. "And so it will be his best world championship yet.

"Because the two McLarens are suffering too much under the pressure. They need to wake up."

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At the same event, two-time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen disagreed with Villeneuve.

Hakkinen was part of the last championship double that McLaren won, in the 1998 season when he won the drivers' championship while racing alongside David Coulthard.

The Finn believes that Norris and Piastri have what it takes to hold Verstappen off in the remaining six events, but that he's not sure which of the talented young racers are going to take the prize.

Piastri is 22 points ahead of his British rival Norris, but that lead has been cut at each of the last three grands prix.

"I have to say McLaren, of course," Hakkinen said. "The team will certainly give the drivers orders to avoid trouble. They're both very good, Lando has much more experience. Which counts for a lot. But he also scores fewer points. So I don't know, one of the two."

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