Lando Norris bullish after Singapore clash with McLaren teammate Piastri

SINGAPORE – Lando Norris issued a blunt response when quizzed about his collision with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the closing stages of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix sprint race.

Both McLaren drivers are required to face the FIA stewards after a last-lap collision in Marina Bay.

Lando Norris reacts to McLaren teammate clash

McLaren was set to finish the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race with Piastri in fourth place and Norris in fifth. But on the last lap, the latter attempted a bold lunge at Turn 5.

This move failed, with Norris instead clattering into his teammate, putting Piastri out of the race, while the Brit limped to the flag in eighth place.

As points are reduced in sprint races – the winner taking eight, with a sliding scale to eighth place, where one point is awarded – drivers will often avoid 50/50 moves, especially with Grand Prix qualifying following just a few hours later.

This means that Norris cost McLaren eight vital points in the Constructors’ Championship, with the team hoping to avoid finishing in fourth place, having been crowned champions in each of the last two seasons.

“I’d rather just go back and review it,” said Norris when Sky Sports F1 asked to give his side of the incident.

Pressed if he believed the move was on, he added: “Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone for it.”

Pushed further, he reaffirmed, “It was.”

Seeming unwilling to accept any fault for the collision, Norris offered a brief word for the team.

“I apologised to them that one of the cars is out,” he said. “But, like I said, the rest of it, we’ll go and review.”

As for Piastri, the Australian questioned the merit of going for such a risky move with so little on the line – especially when it would not have altered the team’s ultimate points haul.

“I’ve not seen it properly,” Piastri reflected. “From where I sit…it’s fourth and fifth for a sprint race, so I’m not bothered either way. It’s just that it’s a lot of work now for the team to get both cars fixed. It’s just a shame for them.”

McLaren famously races to its in-house ‘Papaya Rules’. A key factor of this is that the team comes first.

With Norris’ actions seeming to go against this, the frustrations of CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella, both of whom refused to speak to media, were evident.

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Liam Lawson “thankful” for McLaren collision

Liam Lawson was among those to benefit from the collision, jumping to fifth place for Racing Bulls.

Gatecrashing Karun Chandhok’s analysis on the ‘Sky Pad’, the New Zealander questioned: “He was going in at Turn 5?”

As former F1 driver Chandhok joked that the Racing Bulls teammates had also collided this year – when Arvid Lindblad clattered into Lawson in Baku – Lawson replied: “I would say that I got hit. It’s probably how Oscar feels right now. On the last lap also, it’s not really for many points.”

Commenting that he was “thankful” for the extra points the incident had sent his way, Lawson revealed how close he had come to being a part of the crash, with Norris’ car in the middle of the track.

“I’m hard on the lock, nearly crashing into them,” he said. “I got lucky. You have no idea.”

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