George Russell says McLaren asking Oscar Piastri to help Lando Norris in F1 title decider would 'not be acceptable'
Lando Norris leads the world championship from Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri going into the final round; watch the title-deciding Abu Dhabi GP live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday with Sunday's race at 1pm (build-up from 11am)
Thursday 4 December 2025 22:53, UK
George Russell says it wouldn't be "acceptable or reasonable" for Oscar Piastri to be asked to help his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris win the world championship at Formula 1's season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Norris leads Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 12 points at the top of the standings with Piastri four points further back going into the decider, meaning all three can still win the title.
A scenario could arise in Sunday's race - most likely if Verstappen were to be leading - where Piastri's own championship hopes would be all but over, but he could help Norris win the title by letting his team-mate through were the Brit to be running behind him on track.
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For most of the season the title contest appeared to be a two-horse race between Piastri and Norris, before Verstappen surged back into contention after the summer break.
Mercedes' Russell, who is fourth in the championship and the only driver other than the title contenders to have won a race this season, said: "I don't think it's acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who's also in with a shot of a championship in the very last race to move over for your team-mate.
"I think if it were, in other seasons gone by - let's just say Checo (Sergio Perez) and Max, or (Rubens) Barrichello and (Michael) Schumacher - when clearly one driver is the one going for the championship, and if in the last race, the guy who doesn't have a shot of winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable, and I think every single driver would do that.
"But for me, I don't think it would be fair at all. I think they both need to be given a shot. And if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job, and that's racing.
"That's how it should be."
Hamilton: Way easier being the hunter than the hunted
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who lost out to Verstappen in a memorable battle for the 2021 title, said that Norris was in a difficult position as the driver being "hunted".
"It's always way easier being the hunter. It's so much easier to be the hunter," said the Ferrari driver.
"When you're defending it's much, much harder. If you're ahead on track and someone's catching you, it's much harder to hold on as opposed to someone catching you and you can use them as a reference all the time.
"It's the same thing when you've got nothing to lose but everything to gain. When you have everything to lose and nothing to gain except for holding on position. So it's much, much different."
Asked whether he had any advice for his compatriot Norris, Hamilton replied: "I wouldn't give anyone advice, they're my competitors. I'd probably be telling them fibs.
"I'm not rooting for anybody but myself and this team."
'You try to put pressure on' - Alonso expects mind games
The other former world champion on the current grid, Fernando Alonso, explained the sort of mind games he would expect to be played by the title contenders this weekend.
"There's always a little bit of games," Alonso said.
"When you see your opponents on track in first practice, second practice, media comments from today, you try to put the pressure on the other side.
"You meet at the drivers' briefing, there is a different body language for sure for all three of them."
Perhaps the most obvious mind game that has played out in the closing stages of the season has been a back and forth, which saw Verstappen claim he would have "easily" sealed the title by now had he been driving a McLaren, before Norris dismissed it as "nonsense".
"You never know," Alonso said of the debate. "It's always a guess. Difficult to answer.
"I think we all know that Max is an incredible driver and extracting the maximum from the car and some of the races he has won this year, maybe it was not really up to the car, it was up to him. And also last year.
"But you never know. In my case, we all will say that we can win the championship with the best car. We all have that self-confidence."
The Spaniard, whose two championships came in 2005 and 2006, also had a cheeky response when asked whether it could be the case that the best driver on the grid didn't win the title this year.
"This has been happening for the last 19 years now," he said. "So, it will be the 20th."
Sky Sports F1's live Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday December 5
7am: F2 Practice
9am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)*
10.55am: F2 Qualifying*
11.40am: Team Bosses' Press Conference*
12.45pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 1pm)*
2.15pm: The F1 Show*
Saturday December 6
10.15am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 11:30am)*
12.10pm: F2 Sprint*
1.15pm: Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying build-up*
2pm: ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
4pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday December 7
9.10am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP build-up*
1pm: THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX*
3pm: Chequered Flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction*
4pm: Ted's Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
The 2025 F1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
