Oscar Piastri reveals McLaren repercussions after sprint clash with Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri said any long-standing punishment for Lando Norris by McLaren has been dropped after their clash in the sprint race.

Norris was believed to be being given the worse quali options after making contact with his team-mate in Singapore but the incident that took them both out in Austin has now reset the rules.

Oscar Piastri says McLaren drivers back to ‘clean slate’

McLaren’s dedication to keeping their drivers on an equal playing field has led to some awkward situations in recent races, all the while Max Verstappen has been closing the gap behind.

Last time out, both drivers were out in lap 1 in the sprint after Piastri collided into Norris and the Australian has said that because of that, any lingering penalty on Norris has been removed.

“We’ve gone through it again,” Piastri said in Mexico. “We go through every weekend, regardless of what’s happened.

“I think there is a degree of responsibility from my side in the sprint and we’re starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us. So just going out and racing and see who can come out on top.

“The consequences on Lando have been removed. There’s a lot of factors involved, but ultimately, yes, that’s what’s been decided.”

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Pressure has undoubtedly been ramping up on both drivers with Verstappen closing the gap to 40 points. As the leader, Piastri was asked if he preferred being the hunted or the hunter and said he would rather have the championship lead.

“Both have their positives and negatives,” he said. “I think everyone likes a good underdog story or trying to come back is sometimes a bit easier.

“But I’d rather have the championship lead than be in any other spot. I’ve always kind of said I enjoy that, because it normally means you’re doing something right and I think through the course of the season, we have done a lot of things right, and there’s some things that we can still do even better.”

On Verstappen in particular, Piastri said he was remaining focused on his race and not the Dutchman.

“To be honest, I think, obviously the gap has shrunk a little bit in the last few races, but for me, the focus has always been on just trying to go as fast as I can and get the most out of every weekend.

“Which in some of the weekends we have, in some of them we definitely haven’t. So that’s really all I’m focused on and you know, I think if I do a good enough job of getting on top of that every weekend, then, you know, doesn’t really matter what the picture looks like.”

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