Hamilton: Piastri doing everything needed to win a F1 world title

Hamilton won the first of his seven championships with McLaren and Australian Piastri has won four of seven races this season for McLaren while teammate Lando Norris has one win ahead of 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.

"And also to see them so close, him and Lando, just these two great drivers. The pressure on both of them will be unimaginable, I would say, for most people who 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," said Hamilton.

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 up 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 the fact 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 F1 champion Jack Brabham, Piastri's 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."