McLaren does not want to see another collision between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. After the clash between the teammates in the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday (10), Zak Brown revealed that the two received a clear team order: the incident cannot be repeated for the remainder of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The crash occurred on the final lap of the short race, when Norris attempted to overtake Piastri at Turn 5. The cars touched, and the Australian ended up against the safety barriers. Norris managed to stay on track and finished the race in eighth place. The incident cost McLaren valuable points.
In a conversation with Martin Brundle before Sunday’s Grand Prix, Brown, the McLaren CEO, confirmed that there was no lack of firmness in the drivers’ reprimand. The former driver commented: “I’m going to imagine some fairly harsh words last night for your drivers who managed to trip over one another.”
“Ah, yes. It was a ‘don’t do that again.’ And we didn’t say please. That is an order.”
Brown also acknowledged that there were lessons to be learned from the episode, both for the drivers and for the team itself.
“Yes. You cannot have that [the crash]. It was an unnecessary result for the team when there is so much pressure, and we are trying to catch Ferrari, with Red Bull not far behind. We learned from it. I think there are a few things they could have done differently. Perhaps a few things we could have done a little differently. So you learn,” he concluded.
McLaren sits third in the constructors’ standings, seven points clear of Red Bull and 106 behind Ferrari. In this context, dropping points along the way makes the fight to stage a comeback even more challenging.
