The clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint race, held on Saturday (10), is said to have triggered one of the strongest reactions McLaren has ever seen. According to David Coulthard, internal sources reported that CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella were angrier than ever about an incident involving their two drivers.
The contact occurred on the final lap of the Sprint, when Norris and Piastri were in fourth and fifth place. The Briton attempted to overtake his teammate in Turn 5, but ended up clipping the right-rear wheel of the Australian’s car. Both cars spun, and Piastri had to retire. Norris managed to rejoin the track and finished eighth, claiming the last point of the race.
The team avoided pinpointing a specific person as the culprit for the collision, but reports indicate the backstage atmosphere was markedly different. For Coulthard, the manner in which the overtaking occurred should weigh into the assessment of the incident.
On the Up To Speed podcast, Coulthard also argued that the initiative behind the maneuver should be taken into account when judging this type of situation: “It’s tricky, isn’t it, to determine what the appropriate penalty is for two who go tangoing. It takes two to tango, and the person who sparked the attempt was the one who touched the rear wheel of the car in front. So, I think this has to start being considered.”
The former driver also commented on the dissatisfaction within McLaren and highlighted the reaction of the team’s top executives. “I know one thing: the team wasn’t happy, and I heard from some internal sources that they’d never seen their CEO and their team principal as irritated as they were because of this.”
Martin Brundle, Sky Sports F1 commentator, also expected Norris to have a stern talk with Brown and Stella. “I imagine Zak and Andrea really gave him a hard dressing-down, frankly, because it wasn’t necessary,” Brundle said.
Norris shifted his stance over the weekend. Right after the Sprint, the Briton argued that his overtaking attempt had been valid. However, after qualifying, he confirmed that he had spoken with Piastri and with the team, and had apologized: “As a team, we all talked about it. I apologized, but that’s all you need to know.”
Asked by Sky Italy about the conversation, Norris added: “I was reprimanded.”
Before the race, Brown had already told Brundle on the grid that the two drivers had received a firm directive to ensure the episode would not be repeated.
