Lando Norris has admitted that his collision with teammate Oscar Piastri during the opening round of the Singapore GP did not go without consequences. The Brit says that McLaren held him responsible for the incident, a decision he describes as ‘fair’. He agrees with his teammate and wants to fight for the championship in a fair manner.
Norris had a thunderous start in Singapore, where he successively outsmarted Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri. However, after a slight touch with Max Verstappen in the third corner, the Brit had to swerve, causing him to collide with his teammate. Piastri reacted frustratedly and called on McLaren via the team radio to take action, but the team did not respond. Although team boss Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown did not express immediate concerns about the incident at the time – partly because McLaren was celebrating the newly won constructors’ title – Stella let it be known that the team would investigate the incident further before the American GP.”The investigation led to a clear conclusion. “There were discussions; it was inevitable,” Lando Norris responded to the media in Austin. “The team held me accountable for what had happened, which I think is fair. After that, we looked at what the consequences were and how we could prevent it from getting worse.” Teammate Oscar Piastri spoke of ‘consequences’ for the Brit, but did not specify what McLaren had decided.
Teamwork
According to Norris, who is now 22 points behind Piastri in the title fight, maintaining harmony within the team is more important than any punishment. “The last thing I want is for something like this to happen and lead to controversial discussions after a race,” he explained. “You’re not only risking your teammate’s race, but also your own. That’s something I always try to avoid. I think that’s been one of my strongest points since my Formula 1 debut.”
Norris did not elaborate on the ‘consequences’ of the incident. “Sometimes the consequences are not positive, but Andrea (Stella)’s priority is to maintain the teamwork that has made us the best team from the back of the grid. We have two drivers who challenge each other, and that sometimes brings difficult moments.” Norris sees parallels with other rivalries in Formula 1, but praises the way McLaren handles it. “I don’t know exactly how it went with, for example, Hamilton and Rosberg, but Andrea’s highest priority is to maintain the morale and the framework that we have outlined together.”
