Bold Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris contract solution proposed after ‘bad judgement’

Former Aston Martin and Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer has suggested that McLaren should link the contracts of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the team’s championship position in order to stamp out incidents like Singapore.

That theory comes after McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that talks are “not finished” over how the Papaya squad moves forward after its drivers collided during the Singapore Sprint.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris McLaren contract under spotlight

Norris and Piastri both went spinning in the closing stages of the mini race around Marina Bay, the Brit having attempted a move at Turn 5 which failed to pay off.

Piastri was out, while Norris finished P8.

With the latter having apologised and the incident put in the past, according to Piastri, McLaren was happy to move on from analysing blame, though Stella confirmed that the team is “not finished” with its driver talks as it wants to achieve a clear, united plan moving forward.

Appearing on the High Performance Racing podcast, Szafnauer was asked what he would be saying to Norris and Piastri, in McLaren’s position.

Stella had called the incident “unacceptable” and CEO Zak Brown branded it “unnecessary.”

Szafnauer said: “You just have to reiterate the fact that they’re not in a championship fight. You’re not going to win the world championship.

“The big fight for us is third in the constructors’ and this move was never going to help the team at all.

“It’s the last lap, you’re not improving our championship position at all. Even if you swap places, it’s the same for us.

“It’s a bad judgement. And the only reason you did it is to make yourself one point better off over your teammate, and that’s not what it’s about. Not now. You have got to point that out to them.”

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The American was speaking alongside Rob Smedley, the former Ferrari engineer and ex-Williams head of vehicle performance.

“The difference between third and fourth in the championship is a lot of money,” Smedley pointed out.

Szafnauer concurred, and suggested that McLaren makes sure this is reflected in the contracts of Norris and Piastri.

“It is a significant amount of money.

“So I think, in those contracts, you’ve got to link that championship position to a nice bonus in both drivers’ contracts, so they think twice, because if the team loses, they lose too. If you have that incentive, maybe they think twice.

“But they are racers, and if they see a gap, and you’re sitting behind your teammate who you think you’re faster than, and you think, ‘I’ve got one lap left to get them,’ and you don’t have that in your contract, I can see why you’re doing it. You’re a racer.”

“But you’re right,” Smedley came back in with.

“I’ve worked at teams where the driver’s bonus structure has been driven by constructors’ position, and I’ve worked at teams where the driver’s bonus is driven by the amount of points that they get on just their car, and world championship position. I think that can drive bad behaviour.”

“I’ve done contracts where it’s both,” Szafnauer added, “so they get money per point, thousands of pounds per point that they score, but also are rewarded if you’re top four in the championship, top three in the championship, two and one.

“So you just have to make sure that the more money is based on where the team finishes, because that’s what drives your income from Formula 1. So it’s more that than your individual points.

“And in a sprint race, it was only one point. It was unnecessary.”

McLaren remains third in the F1 2026 Constructors’ standings though Red Bull is now only seven points behind, following back-to-back Grand Prix wins for Max Verstappen, who also took the Singapore Sprint victory.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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