Lando Norris defiant after ‘aggressive’ move on title rival Piastri

Lando Norris’ third-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix was enough to help McLaren defend its grasp over the F1 constructors’ championship, but all eyes have been on a bold maneuver in the first turn that saw him make contact with teammate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri’s radio message to his team was laced with frustration as he labeled Norris’ move “not fair.” But speaking to media after the race, the Briton has denied that there was anything incorrect or “aggressive” in his move, as his contact with Piastri was the result of contact with Max Verstappen just prior.

Lando Norris: “It wasn’t aggressive on my teammate”

The first moments of the Singapore Grand Prix was perhaps the most compelling of the 62-lap event where overtaking proved to be a challenge and dirty air an almost unconquerable mountain.

The boldest move on the grid came from Lando Norris, who started from fifth place on the third row of the grid following a difficult qualifying session on Saturday evening. The Briton saw a gap open, and he launched his McLaren MCL39 into it in hopes of advancing position.

However, the messy nature of any grand prix start paired with a track surface that had not completely dried out following a rainstorm earlier in the day meant that Norris bounced against the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, which in turn sent him rebounding into teammate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri, who had started from third, narrowly avoided contact with the wall as he dropped back to fourth on the grid. And despite making up some time on Norris in the closing laps, it was fourth where he finished.

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Piastri was clearly frustrated on the team radio, telling race engineer Tom Stallard that Norris’ move “wasn’t very team-like” and that it was “not fair.”

But in speaking with media in the post-race FIA press conference, Norris denied that he made an “aggressive” move on his teammate, arguing that any driver who failed to go for the gap he saw at the start of the race “shouldn’t be in Formula 1.”

Asked to describe the race start, Norris sheepishly admitted, “I can’t remember it, to be honest.

“I think the start was good, just right inside of the grid was good. I think it was a good launch as well. Got across and put myself in a good position to not get checked up out of Turn 1 and into two.

“And just, yeah, had a big gap on the inside of Oscar, and it was just very close, you know — so slippery because it was still damp in places and drying out. And I think I just clipped the back of Max’s car. And that just gave me a little correction.

“But then that was it.

“So, yeah, good in terms of, I got two positions, and if I didn’t get them there, I probably would never have got them, just because, like we saw, it was too difficult to overtake. The aggression there and the forward thinking was paid off.”

Asked if he felt his move was aggressive on his teammate, Norris said no.

“Well, I hit Max, so it wasn’t aggressive on my teammate,” he argued.

Much has been made this season about McLaren’s clean-racing mandate, which it has termed “papaya rules.” In essence, the team states that it allows its drivers to battle for position, but that it expects them to race cleanly and fairly. Piastri was clearly aggrieved by what he perceived to be an unfair maneuver — but Norris told media that while he’ll review the incident, he feels he did nothing wrong.

“I’ve still not even seen it, so I still need to go and see it,” Norris said, referring to the replay.

“I might look at it and think there’s something else I could have done, or could have done better.”

However, he continued by stating that “Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as what I did.

“So I think if you fault me for just going up the inside and putting my car on the inside of a big gap, then I don’t think you should be in Formula 1. I don’t think there was anything wrong that I did.

“Of course, I misjudged a little bit how close I am to Max, but that’s racing. Nothing happened otherwise. And I’m sure I still would have just ended up ahead of Oscar anyway, because I was on the inside and he would have had the dirty side of the track on the outside.

“I need to go review it. Of course, I need to look at things and see if there was something I could have done better. The last thing I want is to make contact with my teammate, especially because all I get is then questions from you guys.

“I’m the one that can’t afford anything comparing to him, and I would put myself at risk just as much if that kind of thing happens. So, yeah, I’ll see what I can do better next time. But the FIA obviously thought it was fine, and the team did too, so that’s it.”

Norris also denied that anything would change in the drivers’ championship battle between himself and his teammate now that McLaren has secured the constructors’ championship.

“It will just remain the same, which is just open to race,” he said. “Nothing will change because we’re free to race and have been the whole season.”

Andrea Stella, team principal of McLaren Racing, has noted that the team intends to review the first-turn incident between its drivers during the two-week break before the United States Grand Prix after declining to intervene in the incident during the event at Singapore.

As things currently stand, Oscar Piastri still leads the drivers’ championship with 336 points, while Norris trails him by 22 points, with a total of 314.

Heading into the Singapore Grand Prix, Norris was 25 points in arrears of his title rival, which means he’s effectively closed that gap by three points as we proceed into the final six events of the year — three of which will be sprint weekends that offer an additional opportunity to score points and win races.

Because of that, Norris will need to score 3.7 points more than Piastri at every subsequent grand prix weekend in order to bridge the gap between himself and his teammate.

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