🔗 Share this article

The British driver asserts that "every competitor on the grid" would have attempted the maneuver that caused fresh controversy between Norris and fellow driver the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton collided with his teammate on the corner exit of turn three at the Singapore circuit after a bump with Max Verstappen's Red Bull sent his car sideways.

The collision threatens to disrupt the carefully maintained harmony that McLaren has managed to maintain between their two drivers through strategic leadership.

Before the race, the British driver was behind his teammate by a significant margin in the points table, and reduced that gap by only a small amount after finishing third behind the Mercedes driver and the Red Bull star, with Piastri following in P4.

Driver Perspectives

The Briton maintained he had acted appropriately in overtaking his teammate.

"Anyone on the grid would have done what I did," he commented. "Should you fault me for taking a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in Formula 1.

"I was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's competition. Nothing serious happened, I'm confident I would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway because he had the dirty part of the track on the outer line.

"Naturally I need to analyze it and the worst scenario I want is contact with my racing partner. I am the one who must avoid such situations. I would endanger my position just as much if similar things happened.

"I will examine it but the FIA clearly thought it was fine and the team did, as well."

The driver rejected he had been too forceful with Piastri. "I made contact with Max," he said, "meaning I wasn't aggressive with my racing partner."

McLaren's Response

The Australian showed displeasure about the collision. He said over the team radio that the team's decision to take no action about it was "unjust."

After the race, he was more measured, stating he needed to watch the incident before commenting further.

"The primary issue is two cars coming together," he noted. "It's never what we desire, so I'll examine it in more depth."

Piastri has already been the driver to suffer in at least multiple debatable incidents this season.

In Hungary, he was the team's frontrunner initially but Norris was allowed to use a alternative approach to overtake his teammate, a decision that rival teams have scrutinized.

During the Italian Grand Prix, the Australian was instructed to let Norris back past for second place after the Briton was held up by a slow pit stop. Piastri expressed concern that he believed there had been an understanding that a delayed service was just normal competition that had to be accepted, but complied anyway.

Internally, he was not pleased about that circumstance, and he and the squad held discussions to resolve it.

But questioned after Sunday's race whether he had any concerns that his teammate might be receiving preferential treatment, Piastri said: "No."

Did he believe the team had been equitable throughout the championship?

"In the end, affirmative," he stated. "Could things have been better at specific moments? Certainly, but finally it's a developmental journey with the entire team and I'm very satisfied that the intentions are very well meaning, if that is understandable."

Team Leadership

Team principal the Italian commented: "We will conduct thorough reviews, constructive discussions and, like after Canada, we'll return stronger and more cohesive."

The team principal explained that although the team had reviewed the incident in its direct consequence, "the collision is, actually, a consequence of different circumstances that happened between Lando and Verstappen."

He continued: "Piastri made some comments while he was in the cockpit but that's the kind of attitude that we expect from our drivers. They have to make their position clear, that's what we require of them.

"The team's review needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to take into account the perspective of our both competitors, and then we will form a common opinion upon which we will determine whether we can just confirm our first assessment or there's additional factors that we should conclude.

"Every time we start our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a foundation: 'This is challenging'.

"Because this is the single area in which, when you compete as teammates, actually you cannot maintain identical objectives for the two drivers, because they seek to achieve their personal goals. This is a core concept of the approach we take at McLaren.

"We need to be precise, because there's a lot at stake. That's not just the valuable points, but it's also the confidence of our competitors in the way we operate as a team, and this is, perhaps, even more foundational than the points themselves."

Championship Achievement

The incident deflected attention from McLaren securing the team title for the second consecutive year.

It is McLaren's 10th constructors' title, placing them ahead of their rivals in the all-time list into runner-up position behind leaders Ferrari, who have won it 16 times since the competition began in the late fifties.

This achievement represents one of the earliest times a team has done this. It matches their rival's achievement in securing the title with six races to go in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this year.

McLaren's advantage has reduced as the championship heads into its concluding phase. That is partly because to the characteristics of the latest tracks not favoring its capabilities, and also because McLaren turned off the development program some time ago, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have updates arriving to their vehicles.

This choice by the team was based on the reality that they were seeing reduced benefits in developing this car, common when a concept has such an advantage at the beginning of a season, and that they wanted to make certain they were ready for next year.

Norris, though, is well aware of the scale of his squad's accomplishment, and the remarkable turnaround they have demonstrated under Stella and chief executive officer Zak Brown from recent history, when they began the 2023 season close to the back of the field.

"Another title is a great thing," Norris commented. "Looking at where we were previously, we have outperformed every squad in terms of progress in a period when it is more challenging to achieve with increased limitations and reduced testing.

"At a time when it should be harder than before to excel, that's precisely what the squad has accomplished and given us, by a significant margin, the fastest vehicle on the starting lineup.

"It's consistently a pleasing aspect to say. It always brings satisfaction on your face. But we've also excelled as a team in terms of drivers, between Piastri and me {pushing each other