Lando Norris trails McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 22 points in the drivers’ championship with six races remaining this season
Lando Norris acknowledges that he will face “consequences” following his first-lap incident with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The British driver made contact with Piastri at Turn Three in Marina Bay, a result of running into the back of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and subsequently damaging his front wing.
Norris ultimately finished third, with Piastri taking fourth place in the race held on October 5th.
Norris, who trails Piastri by 22 points with six races remaining, commencing at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, stated: “The team held me accountable for what happened, which I think is fair.”
The 25-year-old added: “Subsequently, we made progress in understanding the repercussions for myself, to prevent anything more severe from occurring.”
Neither Norris nor McLaren disclosed the specific consequences he would face.
Norris commented: “The last thing I want is for something like that to happen, to generate controversial discussions after a race.”
“I place myself at equal risk of being taken out of the race as I do with whomever I am racing against, whether it’s Oscar or anyone else. So it is clearly something I want to avoid.”
The moment Lando Norris hit the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in Singapore before he slid towards Oscar Piastri’s McLaren
Following the collision, Piastri questioned over the radio whether the team were “cool with Lando barging me out of the way,” but McLaren did not take any action during the race.
McLaren’s framework for acceptable conduct between their drivers during races is based on a fundamental principle: to avoid collisions with one’s teammate.
Piastri remarked that the incident was “not how we want to go racing.”
The Australian added: “Lando has taken responsibility for that, and so has the team.”
Norris stated: “The simple answer is that there was contact between the two cars, and that is something we always aim to avoid. The rule is to not crash with each other.”
“This wasn’t a crash, it was a lesser incident. However, we still aim to prevent even those situations, as they can lead to these kinds of discussions, which are never positive.”
“One of our team’s strengths is utilizing and progressing with our established framework, fostering trust between both drivers and the team, which is a significant reason why we are a stronger team than many others.”
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During a news conference in Austin on Thursday, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is 63 points behind Piastri in the championship but has won two of the past three races and finished second in the other, was asked whether he believed McLaren were favoring Norris.
He replied: “Absolutely.”
He laughed, and then said: “Yep.”
As he left the news conference, he remarked off-microphone: “Well, there’s a headline.”
BBC Sport sought clarification from Verstappen regarding whether he was joking, and he clarified through a PR representative that he was.
In response to the same question about favoritism, Verstappen added: “I honestly don’t know, and I don’t particularly care. It has nothing to do with me. They can do whatever they believe is right, and they are doing a very good job of being so quick.”
“For me, the most important thing is that we maximize our potential, and as long as we do that, it is within our control.”
Piastri stated: “I am very happy that there is no favoritism or bias.”
United States Grand Prix
17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on Sunday
Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
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